List Mail User wrote: > Paul.. None of those pages contain a link. The user would have to > >copy-paste or hand-type the url. That would defeat any referrer mechanism. > > > Also, whether cut&paste generates a referral all depends on your > browser and the setting used in some (e.g. Opera). > > Yeah, provided they re-enter it in the same window, and their browser is configured to generate a referrer for that, it would work. But that's hardly very reliable, so most affiliate systems use trackers. It makes life easier on the company paying out marketing fees.
> Short of hiring the psychic friends network scotts does not have a way > >of tracking these to back to an affiliate. Period. > > > Nope; And if I can find them 6 months later in one chain's pages, > would you link to bet they were also referenced by Orchard Supply, Home > Depot, Lowes and dozens of other large chains and smaller businesses also. Oh my god.. and next, these stores might put up the products they sell on their website!!! Oh my god! Affiliate marketing at it's finest! I bet if you go to lowes.com you can find a link to buy a bag of Scotts fertilizer on! http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=33330-446-36615&lpage=none See! It exists! Lowes is an affiliate spammer! So What? I'd assume every hardware store in the NATION had a link or mention of winterizewithscotts on their website, and on standees on their store floor next to the bags of fertilizer. > At this point, I no longer believe that the winterizewithscotts > case is a FP, Wait.. Let me get this straight. Scenario 1:) A hardware store hires a spammer to forge his stores domain name as the From: address of the spam advertising viagra. He's hoping this directs more consumers to his website by them copy-pasting the domain from the From: address of a spam into a web browser. When they get there, he hopes they'll find the promotion for the scott's sweepstakes. Based on that, he hopes they'll order the fertilizer from him, in order to enter the sweepstakes. Thereby making a profit. And this is more likely than a regular store owner who has mention of a sweepstakes on his site that happened to get randomly Joe-Jobbed by a spammer. Or is it merely the fact that the store owner mentions a sweepstakes on his website that makes him an affiliate spammer, without regard for any email ever being sent? Secnario 2) Someone posts a URL to a sweepstakes on a web forum. He has no links through which anyone can buy the product, so no chance of profit by sale. His URL contains no IDs and is not linked. At best, a copy-paste of the URL might create a referrer back to the forum, not any site he operates. Based on that, scotts company is going to track the referrer back to the fourum, and understand what person posted the URL and pay them for it? And this is more likely than just some excited average joe posting on the web because he found a way to register without buying any fertilizer? And based on those two scenarios, you've solidly concluded it's not a FP? I'm sorry, this discussion is over and I will take no further part. You're 100% convinced that this is a grandiose affiliate marketing scheme. I'm sorry, Those two scenarios are WAY too far fetched for me. You may as well have said that Elvis is alive and helping them along with Jimmy Hoffa, the aliens, and that the CIA is covering the whole thing up. It is equally plausible to me. Perhaps you should go work for the tabloids. If "proof" like that is convincing to you they should be able to find you a great job in "investigative reporting".
