Policies on Spam and how to enforce
 

Looking for comments from paysite owners who run affiliate programs honestly. What is your policy on spam and at what point do you terminate accounts. I've gotten a few complaints with my program about UCE being sent out by one of my affiliates. I sent a warning to the guy and am thinking about a 3 strikes your out type policy.

What are your policies and at what point do you cancel accounts? And, how do you determine for sure that an account is spamming.

Imput appreciated as I have never dealt with these issues that im sure a lot of you do everyday.

thanks

Strike 1: They receive an oral warning.

Strike 2: We cover the spammer in jello, set them on fire and make them do shots of crown.

Strike 3: We take turns kicking eachother in the nuts.

If after that they wanna spam then there isnt much we can do.

Spam Free Since 1894

Wow Hooper....you are pretty lenient on spammers.

With us:

Strike 1. Written warning

Strike 2. We give their e-mail address to Forest.

After that they don't spam any more. :Graucho

Most sponsors don't give warnings, they just terminate the account for spamming. But you could give like a yellow card, then if it happens again, RED card and the webmaster is out.

Second question

how do people like ifriends get away with letting this go on? My program is new but Ive already gotten a few complaints with the ftc cc'd in.... am I responsible for my affiliates actions legally? this seems to be gray area.

anyways... I want a good policy because spammers cause more hurt than good in the long run... I just don't want to cancel accounts for the wrong reason....

well I guess if you are so bad at spamming that you generate lets say 3 big complaints I will cancel them.....with one warning first.

I just dont want to end up in court.

just wondering...
what were the ratios on the spammer's account? ;)))


I love the part about the FTC being cc'd in....
I hate spam as much as the next guy, but some people are just such pussies about it....they go to all this trouble to track people down and file spamcop reports and now apparently cc'ing in federal agencies, when it takes a fraction of a second to hit delete...I'm the master of the delete key when checking email ;)))

something to do on a day when you're bored...ask email spam complainers how many SE pages they have...you'd be amazed at how many people are "highly upset" over email spam, have no problems spamming boards, SE's, etc.

The ratio (if in fact the people I suspect are actually spamming) is 1:150 which isnt bad but I could care less....id prefer to cancel people who cause me problems. We have a fairly clear policy on spamming which says

The use of unsolicited email is strictly prohibited. We take such complaints made on our affiliates on a case by case basis. If sufficient evidence is presented to us, we reserve the right to cancel your account.

Its just reading through the lines and being absolutely sure the person is in fact spamming.

Maybe the new rule should be if I waste more than 10 minutes dealing with an affiliate and a problem he caused, he gets cancelled:thumbsup

that's what the problem is.
email spam = bad
search engine spam = good

ltrz

Hey, thats not spam thats working within current rules of the spiders algorithym:)

We review each case individually. It really depends on the number of complaints we get. If one or two complaints come in about an affiliate, we'll send them a friendly note that people are complaining about their promotional activities. More than that and we either kill the account outright or give them a stern warning that if we continue to get complaints we will terminate them. We also tend to go easier on affiliates who have been in our program a long time. Especially those who have generated lots of joins without generating complaints in the past. Someone who joins our program and spams the next day is almost definitely going to be terminated.

The problem with that, Rodent, is that if your spamming affiliate pisses someone off badly enough, they can get YOU in shit. If you fail to terminate your spammer, the offended parties can get your hosting terminated (almost all ISPs have strict anti-spam policies, especially the big ones), and your CC processing pulled (See IBill and CCBills policy on spam).

It's really in your best interest to come down hard on spammers.

PS - Sykkboy - so you're saying you won't mind if I post all your email addresses on a couple hundred newsgroups? ;>

Cheers,
Backov

FloridaKid, I'd assess if the respective spam is an attempt (a small one) or a big one. I'd delete the account of the big one, to clearly avoid trouble, and I'd give the small one an email warning and a second chance. With some people it works, they might be thinking it's that easy to make a quick buck, but such a warning that you caught them, and the next time they will be deleted without being paid may bring them on earth again. If they do it the second time, and therefore prove to be addicted to it, then of course you have to delete them.

SykkBoy2, "spamming" a board that allows webmasters to put their "signature" - which is in fact spam for their programs - and referral codes cannot be considered as spam, since such practice is known by moderators and allowed, as far as I can see.