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Make Money Online - Do Ethics Exist?

Posted by Paul B | October 10, 2007 .

Are there any ethics when it comes to making money online? It’s a question I sometimes have to ask myself, normally when I’ve just thought of something that will make a lot of money, isn’t illegal but just doesn’t “seem right”.

A very good example of this was something that happened today. I’m a member of a fairly hard to get into affiliate scheme for one of the UK’s biggest brand retailers on the internet. The way it works is the usual planting a cookie for a set amount of time and you get a percentage of whatever the person buys, nothing very exciting there, just normal affiliate stuff. What I’ve been noticing though is that people tend to click on the special offer banners I use, not buy that “special” product but then just by the law of averages go back and buy something from that online shop several weeks later. It’s a big, popular online store and lots of people use them. Of course by using those banners the actual number of referrals I have is quite low and so are my earnings.

I was thinking what would happen if I changed the rules of the game. For example say I have a page that gets hit 1,000 times a day by people searching for “boob tubes”. Now what if right near the very top of that page I including a link in the body with the text “the best boob tubes I’ve ever found”, using my affiliate link. Of course anybody clicking that link is taken to the website that has nothing to do with boob tubes but by that point my cookie is in place. No real harm done to the visitor right? Probably just a duff link or something? Instead of 5 referrals a day we’re now more likely looking at several hundred. Over the next month they shop, I earn money. In theory it’s a great idea, it’s just a shame that it just doesn’t feel “right”.

I suppose in a situation where you’re desperate (or evil as some people call themselves) then this would become acceptable, maybe? For me, at the moment I just can’t bring myself to do it.

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7 Comments so far
  1. SEO Optimization ITALY Windows XP Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.7  October 10, 2007 7:43 pm

    Well,. sending visitors to a website with an anchor totally different of the one that visitors expect is not actually ethical. But if it works for you … ;)

  2. Catherine Lawson UNITED STATES Windows Vista Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.7  October 10, 2007 8:38 pm

    Great post. And you are doing the right thing going with what feels right for you. Without your integrity, you have nothing, no matter how much money you make.

    Catherine

  3. Paul B UNITED KINGDOM Windows XP Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.7  October 10, 2007 8:40 pm

    But that’s it, 1 mans not being ethical is another mans valid tactic. I can’t do it but I do wonder just how many out there are doing it and making a lot of money!

  4. max UNITED STATES Windows XP Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.7  October 11, 2007 9:52 am

    This is a GREAT IDEA! Thanks for the post. I will try it on my Zedomax.com where i get all kinds of “hack” related search terms everyday…. I just need some kind of HACK banner… :)

  5. Financial Hack JAPAN Windows XP Internet Explorer 7.0  October 12, 2007 1:25 am

    It is a short term gain the could sacrifice long term results. Yes, you may convert more people, but the some of the visitors that click on the ad will know they have been deceived and you may lose them as a reader. Part of building a site is the trust the readers have with you.

  6. Paul B UNITED KINGDOM Windows XP Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.7  October 12, 2007 7:36 am

    But aren’t you assuming that all websites are blogs, interested in “readers” and return visitors?

    All the very best informational websites out there aren’t blogs, think Wiki. Part of building a blog is the interaction and trust with your readers, that has nothing to do with building commercial websites.

    My website in question isn’t a Blog, it’s an information based resource that gets on average 10,000 unique visitors a day. I’m not interested in return visitors as they don’t click on my ads, with all this taken into account I still can’t bring myself to setup that link!

  7. max UNITED STATES Windows XP Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.7  October 12, 2007 7:37 am

    That’s true, but this IS a good idea. (evil…)