LinkConnector Cracks Down on Fraud

CARY, NC — April 22, 2005 — Since its inception in the mid 1990s, Affiliate Marketing has been fraught with fraud. Until recently, most merchants were willing to accept this fraud as the cost of doing business in Affiliate Marketing. But, with the recent advent of click rings in Asia and Eastern Europe and cookie hijacking by spyware, fraud has been come a much bigger issue that many Affiliate Networks are unable or unwilling to combat. Most Affiliate Networks and Affiliate Programs do not even disclose if or how they protect against fraud and often require the merchant to discover and report possible fraudulent activities before they will investigate.
LinkConnector (http://www.linkconnector.com/), a performance-based affiliate network, is striving to eliminate fraud from Affiliate Marketing. Since LinkConnector launched its innovative FraudFREE™ system earlier this year, it has eliminated about 36% of its existing affiliates. Additionally, the Front Door Fraud Protection component of its FraudFREE™ system launched last month now prevents approximately 44% of new affiliates from even joining the network.
LinkConnector is offering a fresh approach to fraud prevention. “We strive to eliminate fraud on behalf of our merchants and affiliates freeing them to concentrate on promoting their businesses without worrying about waste,” says Choots Humphries, the president of LinkConnector. “Our goal is the complete elimination of fraud within our network and we have instituted a zero tolerance policy relating to fraud,” continues Choots. Any affiliate or merchant suspected of committing fraud in the LinkConnector network is permanently removed.
The LinkConnector FraudFREE™ system is comprised of many components working together to identify and eliminate fraud within the network. This system, responsible for keeping LinkConnector merchants and affiliates honest, currently employs Front Door Fraud Protection, Source Checker™, Click Validation, and Data Pattern Matching. In the coming months, LinkConnector plans to make its FraudFREE™ system even more effective by adding Click Verification, Language Matching, and Location Analysis.
Fraud now is impacting affiliates with problems caused by spyware like cookie hijacking. In these circumstances, spyware installed on a user’s computer will hijack the cookie written by the Affiliate Network denying credit to the proper affiliate. Some in the industry estimate that affiliates in some networks are losing more than 50% of their rightfully earned commissions. But, affiliates can seek protection from this type of fraud in the LinkConnector network. One of LinkConnector’s most popular technologies, Naked Link Technology™, protects affiliates from cookie hijacking. This technology is another example of the importance LinkConnector places on preventing all fraud in Affiliate Marketing.
About LinkConnector.com
LinkConnector is an Affiliate Marketing Network, helping merchants and affiliates increase online sales. LinkConnector is redefining affiliate marketing with its ground-breaking technologies like Naked Link Technology™, Affiliate Connections™, Pending Sale functionality, FraudFREE™ system, and Virtual Affiliate™ tracking. Naked Link Technology™ gives merchants a way to boost their organic rankings while they promote their site on LinkConnector’s Network. Affiliate Connections™ provides a quick and dynamic system to help affiliates find optimal promotions for their sites. LinkConnector’s Pending Sale functionality opens up pay-per-sale campaigns to any merchant who begins their sale process online. Virtual Affiliate™ tracking allows merchants to track, in real time, virtual affiliates such as organic search engines. Equipped with LinkConnector’s new technologies, merchants and affiliates can take their affiliate marketing efforts to new levels of success.

Visit http://www.linkconnector.com/ to find out more about FraudFREE™, its components, and other new LinkConnector technologies.


# # #