Affiliate marketing, where you pay per click or per action for your ad to appear on another website or on a search engine results page is a hot form of marketing these days, but it is not without risk. Affiliate fraud, where your ad is clicked merely to generate a charge for the ad network, is a serious problem and something you need to watch out for if you decide to use this sort of advertising. Who Commits Affiliate Fraud, and How? Affiliates, networks, merchants and buyers have all been known to commit affiliate fraud. Fraud by affiliates is both automated and manual. When the payment model is pay per click, a program that clicks on your ad (called a Clickbot) is often used to generate hundreds or thousands of clicks. When the payment model is pay per sale, unscrupulous affiliates may use stolen or invalid credit cards to try to make purchases for the sole purpose of generating a commission fo... [Read Full Article]

Affiliate marketing has been a great thing for many companies and has allowed a large number of people to work from home. However, as with any good thing, there are those intent on abusing it and turning it from a way to make a legitimate living into a tool for thievery. It doesn’t matter where on the affiliate program ladder they are—affiliate, merchant or buyer—scammers and fraud can appear anywhere.  However, as with any other fraudulent activity, if you keep your eyes open and your wits about you, you will see the signs and be able to disengage before too much damage is done. Here are some things you ought to look for, some red lights that can save you money, time and a great deal of aggravation. Abusive Affiliates Affiliates bent on fraudulent activities typically have their efforts revolve around the payment model, which is usually a pay-per-click or a pay-per-action (sale, registration, etc.) and can be either a manual thing or, in... [Read Full Article]

The Internet has changed the way we do business as much as it’s changed so many other things about our culture. What began with a military computer networking scheme that developed into ARPANET, which connected a number of universities around the United States, has turned to a necessity for both individuals and businesses across the globe. This has led to a revolution in how business is conducted. In fact, few, if any, business functions today are not in some way informed by the Internet and that is especially true in the realm of sales and marketing. When you think about online marketing, what comes to mind? Search engine optimization or e-mail marketing are probably at the top of the list, but there is something else in the marketing arsenal that you may be overlooking: Affiliate marketing. How Affiliate Marketing Works At its most elementary level, affiliate marketing is a fairly simple and straightforward affair in which one business partners with another, plac... [Read Full Article]