[Georgie Peri]

Greetings all,

I have been wondering if there has been a shift in what is deemed unethical in regards to user interactions / clicks / copy codes.

Looking around on some of the major coupon sites I see the following:

1. User HIGHLIGHTS the coupon code text - which in the background stuffs a cookie to the said merchant. No pop up page / no redirect to merchant - just stuffs the cookie

2. Hide the Code, Press GO - it will copy the code and auto pop up merchant site.

3. Has Code showing in a FLASH enabled box - user clicks, pops up a window, redirects to merchant.

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Root of the question - User interactions acceptable now for stuffing cookies?

Or is it suppose to be - Have a Link - List the coupon, where a user can take the code with out generating a click thru.


Thanks!

[Greg Rice]

Typically the user must click IMO. I don't like #1 since the user isn't clicking to use the coupon. I understand why they do that but still don't like it. If the user clicks to use the coupon and/or go to the merchant site I'm ok with that.

As to your root question about user interaction-not necessarily. User interaction does not necessarily mean "I want to go to the merchant's site". One could make that assumption but we still need to "ask" the user if they want to go there and they need to agree IMO.