The internet presents plenty of opportunities for those seeking to make money online. One such opportunity is affiliate marketing. However, no matter what venture you are investing your time and money in, there are always scammers plotting to separate you from your hard earned money; and affiliate marketing is no different. Thus, if you are planning on entering the affiliate marketing business, then you need to take caution to detect and avoid affiliate scams.
“If it is too good to be true, then chances are it is.” This adage is not only applicable to life; it is also relevant in the world of affiliate marketing. While figuring out how to avoid affiliate marketing scams, it is important to acknowledge that there is no such thing as free lunch in this industry. Every successful affiliate work for every dime they make. Very few affiliate marketers have actually landed that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Most affiliate scammers target the novice and those who want to make quick bucks online. It is estimated that 1 in 20 online affiliate programs are scams. As such it is important that you do adequate research before signing up for any program.
Common affiliate scams.
Copying of legit affiliate site’s content In this case, the scam involves copying or cloning a legitimate site in order to appear to be both popular and well respected. Copying often involves duplication of both the content and the styling as well. This confuses potential customers into making purchases from the wrong site, thus denying the genuine merchant of the sale.
Spamming. Spam email may be the number one nuisance of the internet age. While most people will delete such mails without a second thought, there are a few who respond to them and make a purchase, hence the continuation. By purchasing from spammers, not only are buyers perpetuating the problem, they are also depriving ethical merchants of sales and income. In addition, spams can also damage the reputation of genuine merchants by association.
Domain squatting. This is another common affiliate scam. With domain squatting, the scammer targets a successful merchant site and then registers several domain names that are close variations of the same, usually through missed spellings. When a potential client conducts a search term, they are greeted with what appears to be the genuine site and may end up making purchase from there, again denying the ethical merchant of sales.
Parasites and diversion of traffic. Parasites target and divert traffic from a legitimate affiliate marketing site, thus bypassing the intended vendor. Simply put, this is achieved through creation of dummy affiliate links on sites where affiliates sign up for products or services to promote. Thus, when a potential buyer clicks on the dummy affiliate link, they are directed to a faux site from where they do their purchase thus denying the legit merchant of revenue.
Fake referrals and links. This is probably one of the most common affiliate scams. This can take the form of repeat clicks on a link that pays on a CPC (cost per click) basis. Such fraudulent action drains cash from merchants without yielding any sale whatsoever. This is perpetuated by unethical affiliates looking to inflate their income or competitors looking to harm the affiliate.
Credit card and identity theft. You can never talk about how to avoid affiliate scams online without mentioning the age old problem of credit card and identity theft. Merchants generally make money through commissions earned from sales. In an event that the transaction was done using a stolen credit card, resulting in the cancelation of a sale, then the merchant may end up losing money in the form of chargebacks as well as bank fees.
Preventing affiliate scams.
Preventing affiliate scams online is far from easy due to the various forms it takes as well as the individuals behind it who tend to stay undetected for long periods of time. Here are a few precautions that you can take when figuring out how to avoid affiliate scams online.
Avoid unscrupulous affiliate marketing sponsors. Most affiliate program sponsors fully understand that a happy and successful affiliate is beneficial for their business. Unfortunately, some by the night sponsors come into the industry with ulterior motives. Thus, before signing up for any affiliate marketing program, it is important that you carefully screen the program sponsors’ background in terms of the record of accomplishment, regular payouts, other affiliates’ experience and grievance redressal among other parameters.
Be wary of unrealistically high payouts. Some affiliate sponsors set very high minimum payout threshold. This means that you have to earn a significant amount of money to receive a payout. Instead, opt for affiliate programs with reasonable payout limits. A significantly high payout limit should raise suspicion in your mind and you should be carefully thinking through before signing up to such programs.
Look at the programs tracking system. It is important that the affiliate program has a credible and transparent tracking system. This tracking system should be able to deliver results in real time. In addition, the tracking system should enable the sponsor to pinpoint each affiliate’s role in the sale in order to disburse the sales incentives to affiliates in a fair and transparent manner.
Watch out for link hijacking. Link hijacking is a very common problem faced by affiliate marketers. Some affiliates may cut off the ID from the affiliate link thereby robbing the affiliate of the much deserved commission from the sale. There are software in the market that you can use to overcome this. These software work by hiding affiliate ID from visible links thus ensuring that the affiliate gets due credit from his leads.
Alongside these tips you can also avoid affiliate scams by doing the following:
Joining forums that expose affiliate frauds. Having your own blacklist for reference. Regular communication with affiliate sponsors. Ensuring that the affiliates actually have a website with relevant content. Installing site lock feature on your website to prevent data theft. Looking for reviews of the products you want to buy,you can see an example of a honest review here:Is Bring the Fresh Scam or Legit. While pondering how to avoid affiliate scams online, it is important that you are aware of different types of frauds and their modus operandi. Understanding how these programs operate will provide you with insights into how you can avoid affiliate marketing frauds and make money online from the comfort of your home.
Copyright (c) 2013 Fariss el Mountasser
