Comments on: Affiliate Future: Cookies are evil, so let’s abuse an RFC rule.

By: Privacy Hunter

Privacy Hunter — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:26:56 +0000

With all thats going on in the world in these days, internet privacy is really what the world needs. We don’t need spies, spooks, or governments looking over our shoulders. We can handle our own individualism and can maintain our daily lives without government oversight.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:14:56 +0000

A colleague of mine is a merchant with Affiliate Future. He is having trouble with rogue affiliate(s) who violate the policy against using the merchant’s name as the keyword. AF said they spoke to the affiliate. Then the affiliate sent an email to my friend and I am pretty sure it put spyware on the computer. The affilate was stealing sales — orders entered directly from the company were getting logged to this affiliate! Then my friend put code on the site to verify the IP of the home comuter so this wouldn’t happen – okay for a couple of days. Then all of a sudden, BAM, someone changed stuff in the adwords account so an incorrect landign page is coming up — basically it seems maybe the affilate got into the computer and then did their mischief. I am a lawyer and my friend is asking me to help him on this. Do you think AF is invloved at all? Has anyone experienced this? Please let me know.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:42:32 +0000

I almost agree. I’m not comfortable tracking users that blatantly do not want to be. It’s the wrong approach to force, them into it. Instead we should be either making efforts to educate that cookies are not this evil technology that knows what you just did in the bathroom. Forcing them will just make them more annoyed and will produce a quicker reaction, and distrust towards any sort of tracking.

As for tracking phone calls, I absolutely 100% agree. The Search Works, who created Bid Buddy, had an R&D project sometime ago to build a telephone conversion tracking system. A proof of concept was created, and is now know as Diallog. It actually tracks individual PPC keywords!
TradeDoubler, now the owners of TSW, also have a similar product known as TD Talk, but, obviously, that was not built with PPC in mind.

The problem with telephone tracking though, is that no system is transparent to the user or merchant. You need to dial special a number, or enter a special code, or report the outcome of the call which interrupts busy call centre staff, perhaps costing them answering a potentially lucrative call.

Ultimately, why would the merchants go to that effort. They got the sale and made the money. Telephone tracking just costs their staff time, and means they have to then payout commission on the sale.

I think as the industry moves closer and closer to widespread mobile use, we may see some interesting solutions, but don’t hold your breath waiting.

By: Oscar

Oscar — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:49:06 +0000

While flash cookies, etags cookies or whatever you want to do are good, the worst are phone sales.

IMHO, there’s a 10% (or around) leekage with phones numbers, which means a few thousands bucks a year.

Affiliatefuture says they do 7% more with etags cookies, but I know I do 10% when the merchant tracks phone sales. Both are important, but I know where I get more money (travel related).