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 General -  Is WhenU.com Stealing Your Commissions? 
 
From: Tracy V Grant  12/9/2001 2:50 am 
To: ALL  (1 of 67) 
 95.1 

I JUST RECEIVED THIS POST FROM THE CLUBMOM AFFILIATES DISCUSSION GROUP AND AM PASSING IT ON TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT AWARE OF THIS ISSUE. IT WAS WRITTEN BY SHAWN COLLINS, THE AFFILIATE MANAGER OF CLUB MOM:

There are a whole lot of affiliate programs out there that are knowingly allowing a site called When.com to take commissions that you and other affiliates should be earning.

WhenU.com has joined virtually all affiliate programs, and when somebody downloads their shopping toolbar, they also get a program called SaveNow.

Later, if a person that has installed WhenU goes to your site and clicks on a link for Amazon, eBags or another merchant you feature, they will go to that site. But as soon as they get there, they will see a pop-up saying to click on it to get a special coupon. If the person clicks on that pop-up, you just lost the commission and WhenU got it.

The problem here is that people that signed up for WhenU didn't realize they were also getting SaveNow, so they may think they are benefitting your site, when they click through your link, when the truth is that WhenU is waltzing in at the last second and taking credit for the sale.

If you are working with a number of merchants that feature WhenU as a super affiliate, you can be sure that this is happening to you. :-(

If you have WhenU installed, you can see a complete list of who they are working with (you won't see ClubMom on that list).

I'd encourage you to share this information with anybody you know that works with affiliate programs. And write to affiliate programs that work with WhenU - tell them if they work with WhenU, they're not going to be on your site. Otherwise, WhenU will continue smiling all the way to the bank with your commissions.

Shawn Collins
ClubMom
scollins@clubmom-inc.com

 
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From: Tracy V Grant  12/9/2001 10:48 am 
To: ALL  (2 of 67) 
 95.2 in reply to 95.1 

The article that started Shawn's letter above is located at http://www.referit.com/main.cfm?screen=articles&id=170.

Last night I used another computer to down load WhenU.com and compiled a complete list of the 381 affiliate programs it is associated with. I tried to post the list here, but it was so large, the system wouldn't let me.

If you would like a copy of the list, email me, and I will forward it to you.

Tracy V Grant
tgrant@microwavecookingforone.com

 

 
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From: sfpt_mark  12/9/2001 12:02 pm 
To: ALL  (3 of 67) 
 95.3 in reply to 95.1 

Oh Lord! Another sleazy Scumware program. It seems there's always someone willing to use technology to rip off hard working webmasters.

I suggest everyone go to the Scumware section of the JimWorld Get High (Traffic) Forums to see the latest on the fight to rid ourselves of these kind of freeloaders.

It also wouldn't hurt to ask an Amazon rep to post here why they knowingly allow this type of theft from their affiliates. Think about it - one company benefits from the work of ALL the rest of us.

Amazon shouldn't be adverse to kicking these jerks out of the Associate program if the rest of us complain and Amazon has absolutely nothing to lose. These Scumware purveyors are feeding off their legitimate Associates. It's not like Amazon is going to lose sales - our links are already out there - these freeloaders are just using them to their advantage.

I don't know the legalities involved here, but doesn't Amazon reserve the right to change the Associate Agreement?

This problem won't go away without some outcry from this community.

Thanks Tracy, for bringing this to our attention!

-Mark

shopforpowertools.com


Edited 12/9/2001 12:17:57 PM ET by A6JXVBG9136G
Edited 12/9/01 2:20:10 PM ET by A6JXVBG9136G
 
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From: Bob Knechtel  12/9/2001 1:06 pm 
To: sfpt_mark  (4 of 67) 
 95.4 in reply to 95.3 

Mark:  I posted a copy of Shawn's letter on the affiliates board at Jim Wilson's Get High Forums.  Are you posting it on the Scumware board?  If not, I will.

Bob Knechtel  http://www.go60.com

 

 
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From: homebusinessclub  12/9/2001 1:15 pm 
To: ALL  (5 of 67) 
 95.5 in reply to 95.1 

My Amazon reports register sales, but show no commissions!

Could this be related to this WhenU.com scumware?

Lee

www.homebusinessclub.com

 
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From: Diane Dennis  12/9/2001 2:00 pm 
To: ALL  (6 of 67) 
 95.6 in reply to 95.1 
The time has come for every affiliate to stand up and be heard. We are a very strong group, and together we can make a difference. My first move, I am going to email Amazon and ask them about this. If I am unhappy with their reply, my next step will be to drop Amazon and then devote a page at my site entirely to Amazon and WhenU, to announce these rotton, unfair practices. Next step, I will contact the rest of the ones on the list that I participate with and ask them the same thing. Next step, you guessed it, devote pages to each company involved with WhenU, post them, enter them at search engines, and let the carnage begin! :) Sorry, I am a bit upset over this, I have been spinning my wheels with a couple (Iprint.com is another one) companies, and all along this is what has been going on! We have power, affiliates, and all we need to do is use that power to let other potential affiliates know what is going on. Once we all pull our ads, where will WhenU be then? They can't get the commissions if they can't piggyback onto our programs, which we have pulled! Here's another kicker though, if you already have good placement in search engines, you can use this to your advantage! Just because we drop our programs does not mean we have to dump our pages, we just change the text on our pages to announce the dirty work, and keep our good search positions because the page already exists in that particular search engine! Come on everyone, let's be heard, let's show them that they cannot carry on successful affiliate programs using these unfair business practices. I invite anyone to contact me about this.... diane@thecontractorsgroup.com

Let the *games* begin.... :)

ps: Why don't we also each devote a page to WhenU, and list their dirty practices, along with the companies that are participating. We may not deter a whole lot of potential customers for WhenU, but we will deter affiliates from using the various programs that use WhenU, which will have an impact on the participating programs, and we can *clog* the search engines with WhenU search terms, so that the actual WhenU won't be found easily!! Sneaky yes, but not as bad as what they are doing.... Let's show them all how strong we affiliates can be!

--
Diane Dennis
http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com
mailto:diane@thecontractorsgroup.com

 
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From: sfpt_mark  12/9/2001 2:06 pm 
To: Bob Knechtel  (7 of 67) 
 95.7 in reply to 95.4 
Please go ahead and post it to the JimWorld forum Bob.
 
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From: sfpt_mark  12/9/2001 2:18 pm 
To: homebusinessclub unread  (8 of 67) 
 95.8 in reply to 95.5 

homebusinessclub, if you're showing sales, then those have been recorded by Amazon and are waiting for shipment to transform them into commissions. Commissions are calculated only on shipped items.

If WhenU had interfered you wouldn't get the credit for the sale in the first place - they would. So, you're OK.

I believe I made a mistake in an my earlier post suggesting that this might be the reason you have clickthrus and no sales. I edited that out - if WhenU took your sales, it would also get credit for the clickthrus, so you would get neither.

 
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From: Bob Knechtel  12/9/2001 3:44 pm 
To: Diane Dennis  (9 of 67) 
 95.9 in reply to 95.6 

Diane - I'm asking Jim Wilson if he'd be willing to highlight this situation in the JimWorld Gazette which goes out to about 250,000 webmasters worldwide.  He's also the founder of Scumware.  I applaud you for what you're doing.  

Bob Knechtel http://www.go60.com

 

 
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From: Diane Dennis  12/9/2001 4:06 pm 
To: Bob Knechtel  (10 of 67) 
 95.10 in reply to 95.9 
Thanks Bob!

Jim's a good guy, I have had opportunity to speak with him via email in the past. His site is excellent also!

We can do this, as affiliates we definitely have a HUGE presence and I truly believe that together we can bring about change. I have already started emailing my affiliate partners, Amazon being the first one....

Take care!
Diane

 
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