Is MacRumors ignoring its own rules for profit?

I've been coming to this forum as a registerd user since 2004. Today, I found myself looking at this thread:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=12260325

Seems like a nice review of a nice product by Targus. And a nice link to the Amazon product page for said product.

But there's a problem.

The link to Amazon is an obvious affiliate link - which isn't a problem in and of itself, but it made me curious.

Here is the affiliate link from that thread. The 'tag=macrumors-20' part is the part that tells Amazon that if the click results in a sale, Amazon will pay a percentage of money to the affiliate with the id of 'macrumors-20'.

Code:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&camp=1789&tag=macrumors-20&creative=9325&path=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB004N62HZI

I have no problem with affiliate marketing. The problem I wish to point out is that this forum has rules. And the thread I'm talking about breaks those rules. If the original poster would have said, "this is an affiliate link ... if you buy, I get paid, etc." I probably would have moved along.

From the rules page:

http://guides.macrumors.com/Help:Forum_Rules

Now really, I don't have a big problem with any of this. Whatever. So someone wants to make a buck. Ok. So do I.

But here's what's really puzzling. I left a comment on the thread a few hours ago. I simply wrote, "Nice affiliate link."

I even hit the 'Report Post' button on the orginal post. Only because I read the rules & saw a violation. Sorry, for being a rat. I thought Arn would like to know what's going on on his forum. That someone might be breaking his rules -- trying to make money by piggybacking on the gobs of traffic this website gets.

Some time ago, my "Nice affiliate link." comment has been deleted. The thread is still active.

In summary, here are the facts:

1. A thread was started as an obvious affiliate sales pitch disguised as a review.
2. The Amazon affiliate ID of profit-seeker is 'macrumors-20'. (By the way, all Amazon affiliate IDs end in '-20'.
3. The thread was reported for moderation.
4. My public comment, calling attention to the affiliate link, was deleted & the thread remains active.

Draw your own conclusions.

Arn? Are you there?

 

I agree Phil. Just because the affiliate id is 'macrumors-20' doesn't mean, MacRumors is behind it.

On the other hand, suppose this forum is configured to automatically rewrite any link to Amazon with the 'macrumors-20' tag. If that's the case, Arn and the team ought to disclose it. So if someone wants to link to an Amazon page, they'll know what's really going on.

 

Thanks for clearing this up guys. I work in the affiliate marketing industry myself. I fully support a successful website's use of good technology to drive affiliate sales. It's a major part of how the Internet works.

What is concerning to me is that I wrote a comment, "nice affiliate link" in that thread. And my comment was deleted. not flagged or edited -- deleted.

This is what lead me to believe someone was trying to hide something.

 

Really gang?

Spend 20 seconds looking at MacRumors forums and you'll find dozens valueless, off-topics posts that don't get deleted. Please don't hide behind that.

Ha ha. I think I just got accused of being trollish for pointing out something that Arn says ought to be disclosed anyway. This is rich.