Why Is Cookie Stuffing A Blackhat Marketing Technique for Companies?

1. Why Is Cookie Stuffing a Blackhat Marketing Technique for Companies? Cookies allow digital platforms and websites to be more intuitive and user-friendly. By tracking and storing user data and their preferences, they offer a tailor-made experience. When users access an online retail store, cookies saved on the device remember the items they had kept in the shopping cart previously. So prospective customers can get those items back. This prevents them from searching and clicking on their products again, allowing for easy navigation and speedy transactions. But cookies have a downside in the world of affiliate marketing. Cookie stuffing is illegal, whereby a third party drops affiliate cookies on the users' browsers. It is a black hat digital marketing technique with which a company may experience several consequences. In this post, let's explain everything about cookie-dropping and its consequences for companies. Cookie Stuffing – The Nightmare for Affiliate Publishers VIRUSPOSITIVE Phone + 91 - 124 - 2666031 Email- sales@viruspositive.com Sector-48, Gurugram-122001 Vipul Trade Center, Unit#130-131,440,

2. So, what is cookie stuffing? Also termed cookie dropping, it is a form of affiliate marketing fraud where affiliate marketers use automated scripts to insert cookies into the user's browser without their consent or knowledge. Note that these cookies can monitor and track the digital online activities of users. The user does not require clicking on the link or visiting the website. These cookies can generate leads and sales to the affiliate marketer since users are unaware of the activity. This can be a serious problem for advertisers, digital media companies, and affiliate networks. The following points briefly elaborate on the consequences of cookie-dropping: Consequences of Cookie Stuffing: Aspects to Learn Cookie stuffing affects the brand image of the advertisers and buying experience of loyal and prospective customers. Note down the following points to understand the repercussions of cookie dropping: Brands May Lose Revenue The cookie-dropping practices can harm an establishment's affiliate marketing efforts. Affiliates will experience lost revenue which can cause reputational damage to the brand. When cookies are dropped on the user's web browser without consent, they hamper the company's image. They can violate data security regulations and affiliate marketing compliance guidelines. Reputational Damage When a visitor gets redirected to pages they would not visit otherwise, the fraudster gains a profit. The malicious actor can infect devices and force cookies onto them. As a result, when the customers learn about it, they simply would not purchase from that specific company. Genuine Affiliates Can Lose Commissions Fraudulent activities associated with cookies can affect the earning capacity of legitimate affiliates as the traffic gets monitored by cookies stuffed in the customer's device. So, the advertiser pays the money to illegitimate affiliates. The Sole Intention of Nefarious Actors with Cookie Stuffing Strategies The following are the sole purposes of nefarious actors to steal a brand's ROI via the cookie dropping methods: •Monetizing sales of a brand and disrupting the marketing expense •Stealing commissions from the legitimate affiliates VIRUSPOSITIVE Phone + 91 - 124 - 2666031 Email- sales@viruspositive.com Sector-48, Gurugram-122001 Vipul Trade Center, Unit#130-131,440,

3. •Monitoring customers' browsing data, thereby hijacking personal information Now, the question is, how do malicious actors implement cookie-dropping strategies? Malicious actors perform cookie stuffing in different ways. Let's find that out in the following points: •Inline framing or iFraming, where a fraudster inserts or embeds an HTML page within the HTML page •Adwares that show pop-up ads on the user's system after it is installed •JavaScriptis used for redirecting visitors to another product page, and later the fraudster injects affiliate cookies •A pop-up ad that attracts users to click on links and later on redirects them to the advertiser's site •Style sheets help code pages visible on the website (look like images loaded on the advertiser's pages individually) •Zero-pixel images, where illegitimate affiliates inject the zero-pixel image on the page of the advertiser (it's an invisible and transparent image appearing as the blank space to users that contains an affiliate link) In short, fraudsters use different techniques to interrupt ads and steal revenue. Among all, cookie stuffing directly impacts the bottom line of the legitimate affiliate publisher. Most consumers do not have an idea about this practice because it does not affect them directly. But marketers should consider affiliate cookie stuffing prevention solutions. That's where VPT comes into being. Protect Your Brand from Cookie Dropping Frauds with VPT's Disruptive Methodologies As a pioneer in offering affiliate fraud prevention solutions, Virus Positive Technologies can improve conversion rates and restore a brand's reputation. By implementing effective strategies in identifying non-compliant behaviors, the adroit professionals at VPT can monitor brand compliance and fraudulent activities on affiliate channels. Tools and software solutions used by the company can offer fraud detection and monitoring solutions. Brands can take proactive measures to identify cookie-dropping activities. From discovering the process of how publishers promote your brand to offering background screening services, VPT does everything in between. With VPT's affiliate monitoring solutions, brands can detect affiliate frauds, eliminate illegal promotions and protect their loyal customer's buying experience. Understand how your affiliates are promoting your company by consulting the team at the earliest. VIRUSPOSITIVE Phone + 91 - 124 - 2666031 Email- sales@viruspositive.com Sector-48, Gurugram-122001 Vipul Trade Center, Unit#130-131,440,