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Comment by crntaylor | Hacker News Reader

I think you should make it clear that your link to FancyHands is a referral link.

Why should he make it known that his links are referral links? I have seen a lot of negative comments around HN regarding bloggers that include referral links in their posts.

You are reading their writing. If you are reading it, it must be somewhat interesting. If you click on a link leading to a list of items the author included in his post, he probably just saved you some time. If you buy one of those items, you probably would have bought it anyway. Why not let the author benefit too? Why complain or question? Why do you care?

/rant

As soon as someone uses an affiliate link, I become wary of their motives. Are they really linking to this service because they use it themselves, or are they linking because they offer higher kickbacks than their competitors?

The web is full of affiliate spam, so every time I see an affiliate link I wonder if the article is just a very elaborate form of spam.

http://xkcd.com/810/

Now I haven't spoken with the author, but I would guess his motive is to inform you about something, link you to the thing they are talking about, and possibly make some money all at the same time. If this was an article on one of those ridiculous, obvious blogspam type websites, then yes, I'd be wary too.

Fancy hands isn't even automation, and tbh Amazon's service isn't that useful unless you're running a business...

....But both allow referral links. Call me a cynic, but it strikes me that this person had a referral link to Fancy Hands, threw in Amazon's obscure service because Amazon also allows referrals, and gave it a catchy headline of "automation".

I didn't think Refer.ly had any target market, but it appears we found one potential customer.

When someone recommends a service, the assumption is that they're linking because they really find the service useful. If it's a referral link, the issue becomes clouded - are they recommending it because they genuinely think the service is useful, or do they just want the cash?

I'm not against bloggers using referral links, but I think they should make it clear when they're using them. Their recommendation carries less weight if you know that they're getting paid for everyone who signs up through them.

Also, this line:

If you buy one of those items, you probably would have bought it anyway.

If this was true, no one would ever need to pay for advertising or referral links. But clearly, people do pay for advertising and referral links. Ergo...

Yeah, it reminds me a bit of when Jeff Atwood writes up a big blog post recommending utility belt tools or something and every link is an Amazon affiliate link.

No. This angst of affiliate links is getting tiresome. What terrible horrors are unleashed upon you when you click a link with an affiliate ID attached to it? Right, ... none.

You are now listening to somebody with a conflict of interest. Did he recommend X because it's great? Or because it pays the best?

The worst problem is that incentives distort belief. Watch friends who sign up for some network marketing thing. They find ways to be excited about their products. Basically, they end up liking the stuff they're pushing more, because otherwise the cognitive dissonance is too painful.

I thought about this conflict of interest too. But imo people should still be able to use aff links. Their trustworthiness should be deduced from other factors.

You're welcome to deduce trustworthiness from anything you like. But people have been asking "Cui bono?" for 2000 years, so you're unlikely to change many minds there.

When I worked as a consultant, I never took vendor kickbacks like these. At the very best, they created the appearance that I was working for somebody other than my clients, so that I'd have to work a lot harder to maintain client trust. The worst case was that they'd distort my thinking without me noticing, meaning that my clients shouldn't trust me.

I think it's the same deal for writers. The whole point of incentive systems is to distort behavior. It's not unreasonable that people assume that they work.

I removed the aff link since a few people think it's detracting from the message of the post. I could care less about the referrals, the point was to get my readers 50% off by using the link.

The point was that you were doing it in an obfuscated way, (using shortened links), without disclosing. I don't think people generally mind when they are explicitly made aware.

I'd actually really appreciate the affiliate link, thinking about trying it out. Would you mind posting it in the comment thread here?

Sure, it's http://fncy.it/RvrAPd

You get 50% off your first month, I get 10 bucks.

I wouldn't worry about it, they're probably the same ones that still disable JS or use NoScript in 2012.

I think no one would mind if you just state that it is a referral link, and secondly, if you want, you can give both with and without referral links. That improves the credibility of the post.

Enough with this nonsense. It's a link. You click it. It takes you to a page the original author referred you to. What's the big deal?

It means the author is getting paid by the company he's writing about to get people to use their service. That's something I expect to be disclosed in the same way I'd expect him to declare if he owned shares in the company, or was employed by them.

Amazon, too. Seriously, Steve!

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