Associate Programs Newsletter #384

I love really generous give-aways.

They're the latest trend, so take advantage of them.

CONTENTS:

1. New give-away trend good news for us
2. The new give-away trend: Part 2
3. Cookie stuffing: eBay sues, seeks punitive damages
4. Google's new Chrome
5. Link-building strategy and other gems
6. Thought for today: Greatest gift

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1. New give-away trend good news for us
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As the whole Internet marketing field gets even more crazily competitive, there's a new trend - giving away extremely valuable products as the first step in a marketing funnel.

Stuff has been given away for years, of course. The big difference now is the quality of the give-aways.

The new kings of high quality give-aways are the Stomper Net guys, Andy Jenkins and Brad Fallon. Remember them? According to one report I read, they did a $10 million launch. They charge up to $800 a month for their SEO training and have heaps of delighted subscribers who have dramatically increased their business, thanks to Stomper Net.

Now they've created a new SEO Video Course, "Stomping the Search Engines 2", which they could have sold for $197 or maybe a lot more but they're giving it away.

To get it, all you have to do is try their new monthly printed Action Journal called "The Net
Effect". The first issue of that is free, too. All they're asking for is shipping and handling.

The first issue is 45 pages, full color.

"The whole idea of "The Net Effect" is about ACTION - that's why every single issue will have a summary page - an ACTION check list," Andy says.

This is a win, win, no chance to lose offer.

(This is REALLY popular. You may have to keep trying to access the site.)

[UPDATE: This offer has closed.]

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2. The new give-away trend: Part 2
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Joel Comm is also getting into this trend of giving away high quality stuff.

You probably know that he's just launched a new book called "Click Here to Order: Stories of the World's Most Successful Internet Marketing Entrepreneurs".

For the book, he interviewed 40 Internet marketing trailblazers. I read the first two chapters this morning. It looks as though it's going to be a fascinating book, filled with lots of little oddities and keen insights. And it's only $12.21.

But that's just part of the picture. If you click here...

...and follow the instructions, Joel will give you HUNDREDS of dollars worth of stuff for only $1.

One of the gems is Joel's "Power Notes", the lessons he learned while interviewing the pioneers.

[UPDATE: This offer has closed.]

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3. Cookie stuffing: eBay sues, seeks punitive damages
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I was surprised to learn that the programmer who founded Digital Point, Shawn Hogan, as well as Todd Dunning, Brian Dunning and their companies are being sued by eBay for cookie stuffing with intent to defraud eBay of commission fees.

The auction company is seeking "exemplary and punitive" damages and demanding a trial by jury.

Cookie stuffing sets a cookie without a user generated click. It steals commissions from affiliates who fairly generate clicks. Some affiliates have argued that cookie stuffing isn't illegal. Some say it's just unethical.

The court document lists various statutes under which eBay says the scheme was illegal.

The document describes how the defendants allegedly used various techniques to try to hide the cookie stuffing from eBay and Commission Junction, whose job it was to detect fraudulent activity. The scheme had been in operation from at least December 2004 through June 2007, aggregating more than $5,000, eBay says. It has since brought its affiliate tracking inhouse and recently dumped hundreds of affiliates.

Cookie stuffing has been around for years. Ben Edelman of Benedelman.org publicly documented numerous cases of cookie stuffing by affiliates in 2004. However, this is the first cookie stuffing court case I've seen. It will be very interesting to see the result.

It looks as though eBay is sending a clear warning to affiliates.

Here's the news item:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/08/26/eBay_Sues_Alleged_Cookie_Stuffers_.htm

The court document:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/08/26/eBay.pdf

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4. Google's new Chrome
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Google's new browser, Chrome, looks good. However, I didn't find any compelling reason to switch away from Firefox.

One thing I did... I visited all our websites to make sure they display OK in Chrome.

You can get Chrome here:
http://www.google.com/chrome

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5. Link-building strategy and other gems
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Gems from our affiliate forum...

Focusing on content as a link-building strategy
"It took me a year or so of experimentation to see that the best kind of content for the web was..."
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/discus/ftopic28615.html

Nearly 3000 clicks but 2 sales, what's happening here?
"The links have generated nearly 3000 clicks now but two sales ... any suggestions?
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/discus/ftopic28117.html

Just been Victimized by Fraudsters
"...I want to be sure it's actually fraud before taking action."
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/discus/ftopic28648.html

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6. Thought for today: Greatest gift
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"The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention." - Richard Moss.

All the best

Allan Gardyne