Tax software affiliate spam

I have no clue if TaxAct really does get users to spam or not, but this guy is claiming they do.

On the frequent occasions when TurboTax comes under fire here, TaxAct from 2nd Story Software is one of the tax programs readers often recommend as an alternative. So it's rather disappointing to hear a few readers sound a very different note about TaxAct -- namely, that 2nd Story seems to be using spammers to promote it.

This is happening not so much because the company is encouraging spam, but in fact because they have an affiliate program.
That is a tough call because affiliate programs themselves are not a bad thing - they are great for users and it is a good way for a company to generate more buzz and bring in customers - which is after, what a company exists to do (the service or product which they offer is the means to that end of course).

I own a company on the side and am currently torn over the affiliate issues right now. I would very much like to have an affiliate system in place for all of the obvious positive reasons, but I am nervous that people would then spam with it (even if I ban their accounts because of it, plenty of people are still dumb enough to do it anyway).

If anyone has any suggestions on how to have an affiliate system that is spam proof, I'm all ears.

Posted by Eric at March 4, 2005 04:03 PM | TrackBack