This is a good analogy: “The affiliate marketing industry is an ecosystem. It consists of a web of interdependent species: affiliates, merchants, networks, merchant processors, etc. Sometimes they compete, sometimes they are symbiotic. But they all rely on each other for survival.

As in Louisiana, it’s a nicely balanced ecosystem – but now disaster looms, threatening the survival of all.”

Chris Trayhorn over at mThink makes some good points and asks some important questions about affiliate fraud.

Will Fraud Kill Affiliate Marketing?

It’s up to you. It’s up to all of us. We can stick to the rules of the ecosystem. We can play by the rules and prosper in the long-term. Or we can ignore advice and do our own thing until the drilling rig explodes and the crude oil washes over us.

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