TOKYO (MacHouse) – It’s no secret that many spammers who circulate spam comments around blogs and forums go after affiliate money. It is also true that some rotten companies hire spammers to increase traffic to their websites. For example, Screenshot 01 implies that the website owner at the domain of saecoonline.com appears to have hired a career spammer to advertise its website and Saeco‘s brand name. (Screenshot 02 shows the index page of the website at saecoonline.com. Screenshot 03 shows the index page of Saeco’s US website.)
 Screenshot 01 – Source: MacHouse |
 Screenshot 02 – Source: saecoonline.com |
 Screenshot 03 – Source: Saeco |
How about HostGator? HostGator is a Houston/Texas-based web hosting company. (Screenshot 04 shows the index page of HostGator’s website.) A few weeks ago, a HostGator affiliate circulated at least one spam comment around blogs and forums. (See Screenshot 05.) We thought this act was done by a notorious Indian affiliate spammer who signs up for various web hosting affiliate plans and circulates spam posts as in the case for WebHostingPad. We reported this incident to HostGator, but its representative did not disclose the identity of the affiliate spammer. (See Screenshot 06.)
 Screenshot 04 – Source: HostGator |
 Screenshot 05 – Source: MacHouse |
 Screenshot 06 – Source: HostGator/MacHouse |
A spammer circulated another junk comment several hours ago. He or she wrote
I’m a new member and so I thought to post some Host gator Coupon for a start.
Hostgator Coupon 20% OFF : GREEN
Hostgator Coupon 20% OFF (October): SPOOKY
Hostgator coupon – “HGC25 – $9.94 discount
Hostgator coupon – “jury” – $9.94 discount
Hostgator coupon – “iceishot” – $9.94 discount
Hostgator coupon – “Hostcritique” – $9.94 discount
HostGator Valentine’s Day Coupon
Coupon code – “Heart” – It saves you 20% on your order!
First Month 1 Cent Coupons ($9.94 Off) http://www.bloggingtipsonline.com/terminal/img/1660/z08q1005awez/confused.gif
1. “iceishot” – $9.94 OFF 2. “jury” – $9.94 OFF 3. “webhostingunleashed” – $9.94 OFF
To save upto $ 9.94 on Hostgator Shared Hosting, enter any of the below mentioned:
Hostgator Coupon Code : WEBHOSTING
Hostgator Coupon Code : TURKEY
Hostgator Coupon Code : FINDMYHOST
Hostgator Coupon Code : TOPHOST
Hostgator Coupon Code : HGC25
Hostgator Coupon Code : 404PAGE
Hostgator Coupon Code : HOSTGATOR
Hostgator Coupon Code : WORDPRESS
Hostgator Coupon Code : ICEISHOT
Hostgator Resellers Coupon Code : CO_NR
This hostgator coupon will give you following discount:
* Hostgator Hatchling 1 year: $6.95 x 12 x 20% Off = $16.68 Discount!
* Hostgator Hatchling 2 year: $5.95 x 24 x 20% Off = $28.56 Discount!
* Hostgator Hatchling 3 year: $4.95 x 36 x 20% Off = $35.64 Discount!
* Hostgator Baby 2 year: $8.95 x 24 x 20% Off = $42.96 Discount!
* Hostgator Baby 3 year: $7.95 x 36 x 20% Off = $57.24 Discount!
* Hostgator Swamp 2 year: $13.95 x 24 x 20% Off = $66.96 Discount!
* Hostgator Swamp 3 year: $12.95 x 36 x 20% Off = $93.24 Discount!
Enjoy!!
http://bloggingtipsonline.com/terminal/img/1660/z08q1005awez/confused.gif
(See Screenshot 07.) This time, the spammer did not mention an affiliate ID. Does that mean no particular HostGator affiliate is responsible for this spam campaign? Actually, each coupon code should point to a specific affiliate. Hopefully, HostGator will shed some light on this matter and explain why they fail to stop their affiliates from circulating spam posts. Why do website owners have to suffer from junk posts because of HostGator’s affilate program?
 Screenshot 07 – Source: HostGator |
Related stories:
WEBHOSTINGPAD.COM and WordPress Support Abuse: A Hosting Company Turning into a Spammer?
The following is a reply we have received from HostGator.
Screenshot 01 – Source:
MacHouse/HostGator
Hi Tom, from what I see on the last ticket you sent us we cancelled the affiliate who’s ID you provided us right away.
There actually is a very good reason why affiliates abuse our system over others and that is because we offer the highest payouts in the industry and we have one of the most active affiliate programs on the web. When our affiliates make sales with us they usually stick because of the great service we offer, while many other hosts out there have a much higher cancellation rate and thus their affiliates receive no commissions.
While we would love to be able to monitor what every single one of our affiliates do with our system, it is just not possible at such a large scale. It is just like selling someone a car. You can not stop them from driving drunk and getting into a hit and run, but if you find out about it, you will be sure not to sell them another car when they get out of jail. That is all we can really do.
I see that there was no affiliate link in that forum post, which is strange as that would be the only reason I could see an affiliate spamming a forum for. All of those coupons are valid, however they are not linked to any affiliate. We do not use locked in coupons with our program.
We spend many thousands of dollars a month on advertising, if you have not seen one of our ads on a site you visit I would be very surprised. There is no reason we would be paying some shady person to spam forums about us. Word of mouth is worth much more than spam. Is it possible that the post was legitimate? What type of forum was it that they posted on?
I would be happy to reply to any of your blog posts directly and I hope this is added to your post as well to show our point of view on the situation. Comparing us to Saeco is comparing Apples to Oranges. Webhosting is a very personal, open mouthed service industry. Everyone knows eachother, and if a company is doing something shady it is going to come out. We would not be as big as we are if that were the case.
I hope this helps a bit with your questions and if you, or your readers have any affiliate ID’s to report to us we will have them removed from the program immediately.
Have a very happy New Year Tom!
Thank you for contacting HostGator!
Jay Weissman
Affiliate Service Manager
Sales Administrator
1-866-96-GATOR