I was browsing affiliate networks the other day and stumbled upon this nice picture of Ben Chui, the owner of BensBargains — the deal site #7 in my monthly list. The picture and the short story under it is a promotional campaign for LinkShare, one of the three affiliate networks popular among deal sites (the other two are CommissionJunction and Performics).
There is really nothing wrong with Ben participating in it, as I mentioned in the past, affiliate commission is the main revenue source for all deal sites, and this small commercial stunt just proves my point. What really startled me is the fact that this is the first time I see Ben’s photo. For some reason deal site owners tend to keep low profile.
What do you think, should deal sites practice better openness? Would seeing the face of the owner on the About page make you feel better about clicking on product links? How about the phone number and business address? 
Some do.
http://dealnews.com/about/about.html
Here is the way I personally like it:
http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/about/people
It is not a deal site though…
A definite YES.
The web is definitely moving towards openness and two-way communication, as we can see from all these blogs, social networks and other “web2.0″ style sites. A deal hunter would definitely be more inclined to trust a deal site that is open about itself, having real people with real faces, and even open about how the site is monetized.
I have to agree, Web 2.0 brings transparency so people will expect that more and more. I can personally say that adding a picture to my blog site has increased the number of inquiries and user interaction.
I like the openness of Ben Chui because to me it shows how confident he is in his success. Why hide anyways? I like his style and I like how he acts. I truly wish him the best. Now that he has a very good picture up, he will be sort of iconic in a way.
Wish I knew more about his partners in his new baby DealsPlus.
I have met Ben Chui personally at the Linkshare Symposium and he is one of the nicest guys in the business. Unlike some other big affiliates he is very humble and friendly.