Comments on: Will bad offers end the CPA networks?

By: Marcel

Marcel — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:00:55 +0000

Shareasale has a lot of honest programs. IMHO

By: Karsten Wilstedt

Karsten Wilstedt — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:32:45 +0000

Problem is, no one will take straight up offers anymore. I close the sale on a legitimate product offer and I am told none of the affiliates are interested in promoting it. In order to make money I have to keep closing the hot free trials and shipping only offers or I will be pushed off the horizon and won’t make any commission.

By: Jeremy Weintraub

Jeremy Weintraub — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:36:53 +0000

I think some good points are being made here.

Are these continuity programs that pump out high converting offers with BIG CPAs shady in the way the seek to dupe the end user? Yes, obviously.

Is it unethical? I say no.

Here’s why:
1. It’s clearly written out in the Terms and conditions, and I know no one likes to read that little box, but you can be damn sure that when I throw my credit card on the line I do. It states exactly how much you will be billed and when.

2. “If it sounds too good to be true…” What are these people thinking? The Brazilian people are so excited about their berry that they want the whole world to have it for free, or that you really can get a free iphone by giving your opinion “Is Oprah gaining weight?”

3. These offers clearly have fine print attached and it’s the responsibility of consumers to read it. The companies are charging for their products when they start to bill and there’s nothing unethical about that.

Finally, this is happening all the time in the offline world. How much crap does your credit card company, or expedia, or the phone company try to heap on you in their free trial 30 day programs?
I could foresee regulations coming into effect that force clearer disclosure about the continuity, but not outlawing it altogether.

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:32:07 +0000

Haha….LOL. Save yourself the trouble of those crappy Acai offers and go down to your local Whole Foods to buy yourself some frozen Sambazon Acai smoothie packs for like $5.00. I don’t know where people get off on promoting Acai as some kind of miracle weight loss drug. It’s just a fruit (albeit a fruit that it very high in antioxidants). In Brazil you can buy it on the street for less than $1.00. Call me a dumbass, but I do not understand how those networks get away with promoting these things.

By: Phil J.

Phil J. — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:32:07 +0000

I don’t buy this argument. These offers have been around before the web and will always be around as long as they are legal. Remember PT Barnum - there is a sucker born every minute.

Yes, they are perhaps unethical but the mantra has to always be “buyer beware”. Many people get burned once and never again, but there are tons of people who still have yet to be burned and more born every minute.

If you are dumb enough to think a brazilian blueberry is a cure-all then you deserve what you get. And once Acai dies out soon there will be many new snake oil offers to fall into place.

By: andrew wee

andrew wee — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:06:09 +0000

You can see it happening with FB ads clamping down on certain types of ads because of user complaints.

Because the FB ad platform is small, the ratio of complaints is enough for them to want to clamp down on it.

With the big 3 PPC SEs, it’s going to take some time/pain for them to actively want to do something abt it.

I would think they’re getting complaints, but it hasn’t hit a threshold yet.

By: ppc

ppc — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:49:42 +0000

this is a test (without my url). just checking if it is showing up.

By: Sketchy Rebill Not Sustainable? | ppc.bz

Sketchy Rebill Not Sustainable? | ppc.bz — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:48:00 +0000

[...] Anyways, Chad @ CDFNetworks had this interesting post on the rebill thing: Will bad offers end CPA Networks? [...]