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? ;-)
