Thread: Affiliate marketing is a leading source of spam

News summary:
Source: http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,...w=wn_tophead_1

Affiliate marketing is a leading source of spam

The biggest annoyance on the internet is not the guy trying to sell you a knockoff watch or prescription painkillers, it's the marketing scheme that rewards spammers who drive customers to his site.

Affiliate marketing, a system in which a business pays a commission to those who drive paying purchasers to its website, is responsible for much of the spam that clogs inboxes, search results contaminated with useless pages selling ring tones, and a never-ending barrage of pings and fake TrackBacks that have driven many bloggers to shut down comments on their sites.

Match.com, an online dating service, uses carefully chosen affiliates to reach niche audiences, such as mountain climbers or ethnic groups, according to spokeswoman Kristen Kelly.

The site prevents abuse of the program by prohibiting its affiliates from marketing by e-mail and by giving itself wide leeway in deciding when to cut ties with an affiliate.

Not all programs police their affiliates so closely, though recent antispam lawsuits and enforcement actions may inspire companies that take a wink-and-nudge approach to affiliates to take a closer look.

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 makes a company liable for junk e-mail sent on its behalf if it should have known of the spam or it took no reasonable action to police its affiliates.

CAN-SPAM gives the federal government, states and ISPs wide powers to sue companies who hire spammers, because the bill defines the senders of an e-mail to include anyone who procured the services of a spammer, according to Steven Wernikoff, a Chicago-based staff attorney for the FTC.

"The judge said, 'If you are procuring the sending of e-mail or profiting from the sending of e-mail, you are potentially liable if your affiliate sends e-mail that violates the law.'"

I've always said that if you want to find some kind of profitable affiliate niche, just make a list of the products mentioned in your spam folder. You can get new ideas for websites and industries on a daily basis this way.