[jimbo2002]

I don't who know who this mrmerchant is but it sounds like Kellie really struck a nerve.

[Kellie aka Ms. B]

We found that in two cases, if somebody bothered to click the link in the pop up, it would take you to a site that was not an iGive page. We have corrected that. It'll take about a day or two for that change to make it through to users.

True to his word, the igive change was made. My software received an update last night. Although my question to clarify was not answered here, it was answered by virtue of the update.

There are no longer any other Merchants listed as the destination URL for the pop ups to Merchants not participating in the IGive Network. All of these destination URLs are now to the IGive web site.

There were a couple of other changes as well. WBShop.com is no longer listed for this type of pop up. Shoes.com is now on the list. All other Merchant domains reported on previously remain on the list.

[ecomcity]

For sure Andy is the "Bill O'Reilly" of the ABW no spin zone. Unlike mrmerchants clients, Andy is tasked with recruiting and rewarding affiliates for actually building out web pages that focus and target shoppers to his merchants. To mrmerchant this is a total waist of time, even if it's the foundation of the "pay per performance" industry. He knows with his advertising mindset that shortcut tricksters, with mass reach, can drain the dumb merchants Ad budgets quicker then any real domain bound value-add affiliate.

Historically his clients were probably all the Supers/Dupers and professional spammers who were alergic to working with labor intensive network generated creatives. Bet the majority from day one were "incenters", Opt-Out emailers, list brokers and info peddlers of the IAB/DMA membership rosters. He understands the networks opened up the Pandoras Box of free access to every major merchants unguarded AD budgets. Bet he was in the founding group protecting "incentive marketers" from the bust up of the CPC click cheats when the .com bomb burst and even CJ cleaned house. That group got the ear of the networks and convienced them domain bound affiliate traffic had no long term growth as it required page views and had no network "bonus" ...double dipping!

This elite group birthed the domainless BHO which could attack at the Point of Sale and free up the operators from the restraints of the SERPs. Added bonus was they could freely commission non-commissionable actions if the networks & AM's turned a blind eye to this forced cookie activity. The demise of domain bound affiliate worker bees would not effect memerchants income unless the Poorman's BHO cookie stuffers were removed from the mix. His premise is we should face our execution squads without a whimper should we raise a voice that ethics should only defined by written laws.

[ahmar]

Originally Posted by Kellie aka Ms. B

ROFL MrMerchant. What I do know is you approve of IGive and their business model, have worked on some projects with Robert and have promoted IGive to Merchants/AMs. More power to you on that one from my perspective. We just have a different outlook on some things.

But really..no need to concern yourself with what I'm up to these days nor how I spend my time. I'm sure your concern for me is completely and totally altrutistic, but I am an adult and I'll manage just fine thanks. And no need to imply threats of lawsuits, I'm aware.

After the post from mrmerchant yesterday I guess most of us lost our tempers and overlooked the reply of Kellie. But when I re-read the thread today I realized that Kellie handled the situation very well with her calm and intelligent reply. Anybody else at her place would have come out and given it back to mrmerchant in his own words. Although, Kellie reserved the right to do so but still she choose to be better than him.

Kellie, a situation very well handled . Now we all know why you are the most respected member of ABW.

Thanks again for watching our backs for us.

[Kellie aka Ms. B]

I'd hope that this thread doesn't turn into a MrMerchant thread and that we can stay on topic which is behavior being observed by the IGive software. Thanks.

[RobertGrosshandler]

After discovering that we didn’t follow our policy with regards to the “not/no longer an iGive merchant” pop up for our members, we’ve done a review of the process and procedures in place for that pop up, as well as our other policies and procedures that affect the merchant / iGive relationship.

It became clear that we are not proactive enough in communicating our policies and procedures to our merchant partners. Even if we have communicated them in the past, the role of affiliate manager changes frequently enough to make repetitive communication appropriate.

While I’m not sure of the best way to do this yet, I do believe it’s in our interest to reach out to the affiliate manager when a change occurs. Perhaps a monthly newsletter for affiliate managers, coming from iGive, that joins our newsletters to causes and members.

Such a communication means we have informed partners – the best kind. It would also avoid somebody like figleaves.com or shoes.com being surprised (as they were) by finding out our policies and procedures from somebody other than iGive.

Also, I’d like to thank Kellie for following up on her earlier post with a posting confirming that the changes affecting figleaves.com and shoes.com have been made.

[UncleScooter]

It would also avoid somebody like figleaves.com or shoes.com being surprised (as they were) by finding out our policies and procedures from somebody other than iGive.

As long as you use these shady tactics, there will be people like those posting in this thread that will alert your "partners" as well as the charities that you are hiding behind to such tactics.

Robert,
Give the charity ALL the money since you are such a philanthropist. We are working for free when your sleezeware pops on our links. Why don't you???

[Thomas A. Rice]

I feel as if affiliate marketing is a multiplayer chess game, only some players move pieces in ways that they are not allowed, and wait, simply, to see if the other players notice.

[Chris - AMWSO]

Thanks Drewburt PM on the way.

[UncleScooter]

See #27 at this link
http://forum.abestweb.com/showthread.php?t=53915&page=2

Baby steps....yet steps. We are now walking as a group. Next we run!!

[ejolie]

Hi, I hope I'm not intruding on this discussion, but I wanted to share a thought or two. I work at a non-profit serving homeless individuals and families, and volunteer at another non-profit that is an independent radio station. Both organizations are affected by the current economic challenges to fundraising. iGive provides an excellent way for our donors and their circle of connections to support non-profits' work while doing something they were doing anyway - either shopping or surfing the net.

Any donor interested in helping their cause can sign up their charity to benefit through iGive. It is no intrusion for supporters to set us up as an option, and it is welcomed when they choose to support us while they shop/surf. It's a very easy way to help. Donors are free to choose whatever charity they wish to support, and they are certainly already choosing what they want to purchase and from where.

That said, iGive is only one choice, as you all seem to know. Amazon is also helping the radio station and in my view, the more options for donors and charities, the better. They needn't be exclusive. And you know, there are even more choices to be had.

I found this thread looking for information on iGive... and became concerned when the thread was about iGive's needing to be ashamed for something. I think they're great. They're not the only ones doing good, but what they do for us is fine.

ej

[BurgerBoy]

This thread is 5 years old and iGive is still a parasite and crooked so we don't want to hear about how great it is here.

iGive steals commissions from other affiliates.

[BurgerBoy]

What is the iGive Toolbar?

The iGive Toolbar features a built-in iSearchiGive search box along with a handy Donation Tracking service for iGive members who wish to raise even more money when they shop online.

With the iGive Toolbar, anyone can:


◦Search and raise money any time, from any site, using the iSearchiGive search box.

◦See the total funds raised for your cause, with handy reports just one click away.

In addition, iGive.com members can:

◦Shop at 700+ participating stores where up to 26% of each purchase benefits your cause.

◦Easily access your iGive Shopping Report, a list of stores you've visited, the iGive Mall, and more.

◦Instantly know if you are visiting a store that offers a donation through iGive.com.

◦Enable the Toolbar's Donation Tracking and never miss out on a potential donation when you shop,
even if you forgot to start at iGive.com!

◦Go directly to your favorite stores and still get a donation to your cause, as long as the store participates
in our program. The Toolbar will automatically take you through iGive.com so that your purchase is eligible
for a donation.

http://isearch.igive.com/faq.cfm#toolbar1

[BurgerBoy]

The merchants that are allowing them to steal from us: http://www.igive.com/html/merchantlist2.cfm

[Trust]

Nobody can see what you're responding too.

edit, ok it's undeleted now.

[ejolie]

Wow. Nice welcome.

Do you want to suggest a fundraising tool of which you approve?

[BurgerBoy]

Here's one: http://www.easy-fundraising-ideas.com/

[knight01]

hmmm, it appears that Howard has added a shopping wizard to VOM. For some reason I couldn't download it, but it states you don't have to visit the page to do shopping and get credit.
http://www.visitourmall.com/sample.php

Since it's Howard I'm hoping I misread the banner.

[BurgerBoy]

Click on the - Apparel/Clothing link in the right hand column. The toolbar download is a active link on that page if you want to explore it more.

Let us know what you find out please.

[lisa4va]

This thread is 5 years old and iGive is still a parasite and crooked so we don't want to hear about how great it is here.

iGive steals commissions from other affiliates.

Thanks for the condensed, current update BurgerBoy. LS was kind enough to send over a list of compatible affiliates for our program and iGive is first on that list.

[knight01]

Downloaded it, haven't installed it since I'm busy tonight with something else... It is an IE toolbar. This is from the download page. Doesn't sound good to me.

Don’t miss any cash back on purchases by forgetting to shop through your mall homepage. The Visit Our Mall Shopping Wizard is here to the rescue. Download and install the shopping wizard and it will do all of the work for you. All you have to do once the shopping wizard is installed, is shop online normally. The shopping wizard will alert you that the website you are shopping on is an approved store in your mall. And like magic, it will automatically give you credit for any purchases you make from that merchant.