[VHMgreg]

Hi All.

We are currently looking for publishers with registrations - we have great solution to add revenue to every user that works with almost all types of traffic. The info we need you to collect is name, email, DOB, address and phone. Please contact me ASAP if you're interested.

Thanks.

Greg Richman
Senior Affiliate Manager
P: (646) 723-4353 X4374
grichman@VHMnetwork.com

[id2k]

Hi greg check your mail...

[VHMgreg]

Hi did you send me an email or leave me a voicemail? I don't belive I recieved either, please resend it or feel free to give me a call.

[id2k]

mailed you....i will mail you again right now...

[Markiphone]

Why those data points?

DOB + name + address = easy identity theft

Phone = annoying telemarketing calls.

You'd need to do a LOT of explaining to persuade me that shared registration data ever needs more than:
- age or year of birth
- zip code
- gender
- maybe family size, age of children

Of course, there must be proper, COMPLETE disclosure during registration AND in the privacy policy.

[VHMgreg]

Those are standard data points in the lead generation industry - most education, career, financial services and many other offers/lead buyers require those data points. Everything we do is opt in and we ensure there is proper, COMPLETE disclosure during registration AND in the privacy policy's of our sites and our partners.

We're mainly looking for publishers that own sites already with registrations, host offers with the data points we need or run registration paths. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks.

[markwelch]

Greg wrote: > "Those are standard data points in the lead generation industry" <

Yes, of course some of these are standard data points for certain lead categories (including education and credit offers). However, they are absolutely NOT "standard data points" for web-site registration, and I would certainly view any web site that sought this data as part of a typical registration with extreme suspicion.

When a consumer chooses to respond to a specific offer, especially if it's credit-related, then this kind of information is entirely appropriate. However, it is NOT appropriate for a web site to obtain and store this information for one reason, and then re-use the information to "manufacture leads" using this data (even if the consumer's implied or express consent was obtained).

I'll assume that what you're really asking for is for web publishers to invite their registered users to "more easily and quickly" complete lead forms which they elect to pursue, by copying over their registration information when the user chooses to respond to a specific offer. This still doesn't explain why the web site should or would want or need the user's complete date of birth, street address, or telephone number -- unless the site is promoted specifically as a portal for submitting a particular type of "lead" inquiries (for example, a directory site which the publisher promotes as a useful resource to research and identify colleges AND to quickly submit requests for information to specific colleges).

There are some serious liability issues when collecting and storing this type of data, and it is very, very unwise for most web publishers to do so; it's also probably unwise for legitimate, ethical companies to work with publishers who gather, store, and re-use this type of data.

Assuming that you operate an ethical business, I still think your solicitation here is likely to attract the very worst kind of web publishers, who may collect and use this kind of information to fabricate and submit invalid leads (for example, collecting information when a consumer expresses an interest in learning more about Harvard University, and then submitting parallel leads to 10 or 20 other colleges without the user's express consent).

You might want to reconsider the way you word your solicitation messages.

[Merchant Consultant Team]

Lead Gen is FRAUD waiting to happen.
Why set it up unless you want it.

[VHMgreg]

Mark - you're assuming the worst though I do apologize if my post came off in a negative way and I will be more detailed in the future. To clarify absolutely what we're NOT looking for based on points you mentioned below is a list. 90% of our advertisers are direct relationships so we have to be in the business of generating quality leads that convert - it's a competitive space and we'd have no clients if we didn’t.

1. "It is NOT appropriate for a web site to obtain and store this information for one reason, and then re-use the information to "manufacture leads" using this data (even if the consumer's implied or express consent was obtained)."

- I agree 100%, we're not looking for publisher or use publishers that use their reg data to fill out lead forms. This wouldn't be relevant to most of our registration monetization opportunities though as they would be real time SECURE data transfers.

2. " I still think your solicitation here is likely to attract the very worst kind of web publishers, who may collect and use this kind of information to fabricate and submit invalid leads (for example, collecting information when a consumer expresses an interest in learning more about Harvard University, and then submitting parallel leads to 10 or 20 other colleges without the user's express consent)."

- Again if we worked with publishers like this we'd have no education clients or other clients as the leads would all be poor quality. For education offers, no matter the traffic we limit it to 2 schools per user max that they can submit.


To address why we need "date of birth, street address, or telephone number" - they all can be used for targeting purposes and to better qualify leads. Ex. if a clients wants to target users 23 - 37 living in New York than we only show that offer to that age range and with a NY zip code. Phone and address are NOT always required fields but when they are it's generally because the leads are being followed up with via both - when a user submits their phone, we make it clear they may receive a call. In education, the schools generally all follow up via phone and some mail an information packet as well.

To address: "There are some serious liability issues when collecting and storing this type of data, and it is very, very unwise for most web publishers to do so; it's also probably unwise for legitimate, ethical companies to work with publishers who gather, store, and re-use this type of data." This is a very valid point and we have taken a number of steps to protect our users data. And though we screen publishers closely, you're right that we could be more active in learning what they have in place to protect their data.

Thanks and let me know if you have any other question or concerns.

[VHMgreg]

Lead Gen is FRAUD waiting to happen.
Why set it up unless you want it.

This is a vast generalization of a major aspect of affiliate marketing.