Hi: Interesting to note the hackers aren't just taking gold.
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, E-Commerce Consultant reports... A significant slice of the affiliate commissions paid out by the Big Three affiliate networks -- BeFree!, LinkShare, and Commission Junction -- are being subverted by software plug-ins on consumers' web browsers that cause the affiliate commissions to be channeled to software developers and other organizations, rather than to the affiliates whose links direct the consumer to the merchant's site. Author and affiliate expert Shawn Collins told the New York Times, "I probably saw a drop-off of 30 percent in income for the past six months." How the Diversion Works While the problem is more than a year old, here's what's causing the uproar today. When consumers download music-swapping software, they are asked to show support for the software developer splitting the affiliate commission between the developer and the shopper. When the consumer comes to a merchant site that offers an affiliate commission, a browser plug-in (installed at the same time as the music software) indicates this to the shopper and directs the shopper to a site to pick up the software developer's affiliate cookie which overwrites a previous affiliate cookie. When the sale is made, the software developer gets the affiliate commission. Some promise the shopper a piece of that commission as a rebate, giving the shopper an incentive to cooperate. Wurld Media or TopMoxie software bundled with file-swapping programs Morpheus and LimeWire, respectively, are said to divert affiliate commissions. Details at... http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt7/affil_hijack.htm _______________________________________________________ George Matyjewicz, Chief Global Strategist GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.gapent.com/ Book Author and Doctoral Candidate in Training Moderator of E-Tailer's Digest http://www.etailersdigest.com/ Automated Press Releases http://www.automatedpr.com/ Board Member AIB #34 http://www.aib-world.org/ --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.