Experienced Affiliate Marketers.

Are you commissions being stolen?

A relatively new problem affiliates are facing is called parasite theft (Parasiteware). Here is what it is:

A technology (including, but not restricted to, browser helpers, browser plug-ins, toolbars and pop ups/sliders) that knowingly or unknowingly undermines or removes another affiliate's ability to compete by changing, intercepting or redirecting an affiliate link. Parasiteware™ may be installed knowingly or unknowingly by the end user, altering their normal web browser functions and/or installing a third party application that works through the user's altered browser.

That means when your affiliate sends customers to your site, the parasiteware will replace the affiliate's links with their own (morpheus), or pop up coupons promising discounts (ebates).

This way, the commission goes to the parasite and not the affiliate who sent the customer to you.

To you, all you see is a superaffiliate. With time, you see more and more smaller affiliates dropping out of your program.
Less and less traffic coming to your site.
Sales of your parasitic superaffiliates fall. (They don't motivate customers to go to your site to buy from you. They just hijack the traffic that would have gone to you in the first place.)

And you wonder what hit you.

You see, when your regular customers who arrive at your site with such software, the parasite would remind the customer to click on their code, so they get a commission. By right, they should not be getting any commissions as these are your regular customers who came to your site through your efforts. Think about it.

For more information about affiliate hijacking and parasiteware, click here.