Internet Merchants Under Attack

There is a new and disturbing angle to BHO Parasiteware that is stealing millions of dollars from affiliates and merchants. This parasite is even more insideous because it is promulgated by an affiliate network in conjunction with a sister company that is running the parasite. Although, it's no suprise that another parasite toolbar has reared it's ugly head.The fact that an affiliate network is involved does.

One Cause says they donate a portion of commissions to charities and under that guise they encourage people to download their toolbar. Once the toolbar is downloaded onto someones computer, this toolbar overwrites cookies and redirects on 460 different merchants. This means that no matter how a customer arrives at any of the 462 merchants sites, One Cause will take the commission. So if you, an average affiliate, sends a customer to a store such as Ebay or Dell or any of the other 460 merchants  you lose your commission. One Cause steals your commission, if your customer has One Cause on their computer. If you are one of the 460 merchants and a customer types in your website and then makes a purchase, One Cause earns a commission for doing nothing! One Cause gives half or so to charity and pockets the rest.  Over $211 MILLION is claimed to have been donated. This means well over $211 MILLION stolen from affiliates and from merchants.

One Cause purports to help people turn their online shopping into a charitable activity.  And if that were all it would be okay.  But it's not.It's interesting that One Cause is owned by Rakuten USA... who also owns LinkShare.  And the One Cause toolbar has been verified to overwrite affiliate cookies.What does this mean for your income stream?  It means that if you use LinkShare (and they're not the only one, just the biggest) and you attract traffic with your hard work, ingenuity, and hard earned money all potential customers that have the One Cause toolbar installed won't generate a dime for you.  Your affiliate cookie will be overwritten by One Cause.  You lose.

Need to see the proof?  How about this.  Over a dozen videos of a clean PC installing the toolbar, surfing an affiliate (like you), and then going to any of over 460 merchants.The overwriting of affiliate cookies by One Cause is clearly shown.  You can go over to ABW and read the saga for yourself watch the videos and see how LinkShare and One Cause are ripping you off.

If you are a Merchant or Affiliate, you need to watch the videos and read the ABW threads. If you are an affiliate be sure to let your merchants know what is happening. This hurts both affiliates and merchants.