11 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
11 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

That's so evil !

by Wide
9 replies
So, I was looking up some details for DOE (Directory of Ezines) and came across this page:

Directory Of Ezines 2.0 Review - DirectoryOfEzines by Charlie Page Newsletter zine articles Scam or Real?

It's basically a review page, nothing more.

The thing that tricked me was the pictures/screenshots. It's hard to read the content, but they are still big enough to get noticed. I (of cause) clicked one to see the bigger picture, or so I thought. The pictures actually redirect you to DOE and set a cookie for affiliate commission.

That's a nice little "trick" to set a cookie i guess.

Never thought about this before, not sure if I like it - anyway, just wanted to let you guys know
#evil
  • Profile picture of the author Exel
    It's a sneaky method, but the website itself looks very amateurish.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5963783].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Adrian Int
    I believe that's referred to as browser/cookie "stuffing".

    Sneaky, underhanded, and generally frowned upon by honest salesfolk. ;-)
    Signature
    ATTENTION: Improve your list building. Free report and mp3
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5964172].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author danr62
    Sorry, but if you have to click the image to set the cookie then it is not stuffing and I personally don't see anything wrong with it.

    Those images aren't so small that you have to click them to see them, either. It's a common practice to add affiliate links to imagaes.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5964199].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author FrankLie
    That's crazy! So cookies allow for track back to the visitors of the site???
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5964281].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Wide
    It's not cookie stuffing, that's for sure and was not the point with this topic.
    Never thought about adding affiliate links to pictures before. Normally when clicking a picture you do it to see the original size, which almost is standard.

    This method is probably very effective.
    Signature

    Test my 21.03% CTR Theme
    http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...?highlight=CTR

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5969595].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author danr62
    It's usually done this way for physical products like on Amazon. Haven't seen it too much for digital products.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5969615].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author dadamson
    It would be sneaky if the entire webpage (even the text) was just a huge image that linked to the affiliate link, which I have seen before.

    Simply including a link to the website through an affiliate link through an image is completely fine, I guess when the content is specifically made too small to read so you click on it to 'enlarge' it you actually get directed through their affiliate link is sneaky.

    But who knows if he specifically meant to trick his visitors.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5969621].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    For some ungodly reason newbies tend to stretch their images (especially ebook covers) to be wider and it looks absolutely awful. To this day I cannot figure out why the hell people would do that.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5969633].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author sovereignn
    No sir that's so raven.

    Sorry had to get it out :\
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5969644].message }}

Trending Topics