Stack Overflow does it too on Amazon-links etc.
Bit.ly and Viglink Adding Affiliate Cookies on Shortened Links
41–50 of 56 posts
Re: Bit.ly and Viglink Adding Affiliate Cookies on Shortened Links
#42This is right in the same vein as cookie stuffing, which Shawn Hogan went to prison for [1] [2]. Keep in mind that there is no "cookie stuffing" statute - he was charged with Wire Fraud - and using your position in the link chain to steal revenue from other affiliates seems to definitely fall under the definition of wire fraud. I can't imagine what lawyer told Bitly that this was a good idea given this precedent, but…
Wow. I totally missed this. It's not a horrible deal... 5 months in prison for $10M or so. Still feels weird being criminally prosecuted for breaking a TOS.
Don't know about you, but for me there isn't any amount of money that's worth becoming a federal felon for getting.
Re: Bit.ly and Viglink Adding Affiliate Cookies on Shortened Links
#43This is right in the same vein as cookie stuffing, which Shawn Hogan went to prison for [1] [2]. Keep in mind that there is no "cookie stuffing" statute - he was charged with Wire Fraud - and using your position in the link chain to steal revenue from other affiliates seems to definitely fall under the definition of wire fraud. I can't imagine what lawyer told Bitly that this was a good idea given this precedent, but…
> to steal revenue from other affiliates
would it be legal(ish) if you left affiliate links intact, i.e. only adding your ID to links that aren't affiliate links already?
Re: Bit.ly and Viglink Adding Affiliate Cookies on Shortened Links
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow. I totally missed this. It's not a horrible deal... 5 months in prison for $10M or so. Still feels weird being criminally prosecuted for breaking a TOS.
Don't know about you, but for me there isn't any amount of money that's worth becoming a federal felon for getting.
Sure there is. The time might be hard to take, but if the price is right I'd celebrate the label. Of course many actions that would justify such a label are out of bounds on principle, but the label itself is irrelevant (the cash covers job effects, and other restrictions).
Re: Bit.ly and Viglink Adding Affiliate Cookies on Shortened Links
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow. I totally missed this. It's not a horrible deal... 5 months in prison for $10M or so. Still feels weird being criminally prosecuted for breaking a TOS.
Don't know about you, but for me there isn't any amount of money that's worth becoming a federal felon for getting.
Becoming a felon by stealing money from the company that runs PayPal. I'd put that on my resume.
Re: Bit.ly and Viglink Adding Affiliate Cookies on Shortened Links
#46This is right in the same vein as cookie stuffing, which Shawn Hogan went to prison for [1] [2]. Keep in mind that there is no "cookie stuffing" statute - he was charged with Wire Fraud - and using your position in the link chain to steal revenue from other affiliates seems to definitely fall under the definition of wire fraud. I can't imagine what lawyer told Bitly that this was a good idea given this precedent, but…
> to steal revenue from other affiliates would it be legal(ish) if you left affiliate links intact, i.e. only adding your ID to links that aren't affiliate links already?
IANAL nor an affiliate marketing expert, but if I ran an affiliate program I would make that against the rules. It at least goes against the intent of the program, which is to reward/incentivize people who send you business. Everyone clicking these links was already going to your site, so bit.ly as an affiliate generates zero extra dollars in sales.
Re: Bit.ly and Viglink Adding Affiliate Cookies on Shortened Links
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
...but then why use bitly?
Because its unlikely that you own a domain that short. They also own j.mp ...a 1 letter domain. Good luck getting one of those on your own :)
You could probably get a complete URL of equal or shorter length though because your new shortener domain could start counting from single-digit IDs again. Bit.ly is up to 7 characters.
Re: Bit.ly and Viglink Adding Affiliate Cookies on Shortened Links
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
> to steal revenue from other affiliates would it be legal(ish) if you left affiliate links intact, i.e. only adding your ID to links that aren't affiliate links already?
IANAL nor an affiliate marketing expert, but if I ran an affiliate program I would make that against the rules. It at least goes against the intent of the program, which is to reward/incentivize people who send you business. Everyone clicking these links was already going to your site, so bit.ly as an affiliate generates zero extra dollars in sales.
Stackexchange converts outbound amazon links to affiliate ones. (see https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/26964/auto-insertin...) Would that be the same?
Re: Bit.ly and Viglink Adding Affiliate Cookies on Shortened Links
#49This is a clear violation of the Amazon and eBay affiliate programs. These shortened URLs were already clicks being sent to Amazon or eBay (or whoever the affiliate is). No overt attempt at promoting a sale or purchase of a product is taking place. We contemplated this kind of thing for about 2 milliseconds when OpenDNS had an ad revenue business and we couldn't ever wrap our heads around how it's even remotely accep…
Is stackexchange also violating the terms by inserting affiliate links to amazon for outbound links?
https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/26964/auto-insertin...
Re: Bit.ly and Viglink Adding Affiliate Cookies on Shortened Links
#50This is right in the same vein as cookie stuffing, which Shawn Hogan went to prison for [1] [2]. Keep in mind that there is no "cookie stuffing" statute - he was charged with Wire Fraud - and using your position in the link chain to steal revenue from other affiliates seems to definitely fall under the definition of wire fraud. I can't imagine what lawyer told Bitly that this was a good idea given this precedent, but…
> I guess it's only illegal if you aren't a multi-billion dollar startup.
Amazon owes me > $40k after terminating my affiliate account for doing something similar in principle.
Their reasoning was that they felt the traffic I was driving in their direction was already going to be theirs, and that I was just injecting my affiliate commission into the process...as such, I was stealing from them.