Yep. Particularly when they’re promoting things they don’t recommend, review, or own and use.
That’s the problem.
That’s why the businesses that have affiliate programs are so damned eager to get people to join them.
It’s cheap advertising, with no responsibility to stand by whatever claims are being made about the product — because oh no, they’re just affiliates, we aren’t responsible for the quality and neither are they.
Slippery slope, moral hazard.
This isn’t about YOU.
I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I still don't see the issue. I try to click on the affiliate link (as opposed to the non-affiliate link) when a member posts a deal I'm interested in. I figure if I pay the same price and its a good price for something I want, I want the member that took time to post the deal to get a little something for their trouble. I really don't care what their motive is (e.g. make money, share a good deal, etc).
As far as the OP trying to be divisive. I don't think so. I, too, have wondered about what the OP is asking. I have asked here and there, but haven't got an answer that makes sense yet. Like the OP, I have no skin in the game. As a general rule, however, I prefer as few rules as possible. Freedom and choice has costs.
is a thoughtful, thorough review
and way down below some of the pictures
there’s mention of one place to buy the light
and of a code at Max’s topic to get a better price.
Happy to go there and click that one.
This is how to do it in a way that really makes clear what the item is, inside and out.
The problem with aff is that the poster is paid by the store to help sell some items. The poster is by definition affiliated with the store. That is a problem when the same poster also is a normal member on the forum and participate in the general conversation and perhaps even build up a good reputation.
The poster sell/give away his/her good reputation to the store to help the store to sell stuff. Infiltrative marketing using the trust given by others. Nasty. And cheap and very efficient marketing for the store. But that is fine as long as the aff link is posted in the commercial seller parts of the forum, and banned everywhere else.
The aff link is by definition a part of how stores attempt to influence the market to increase their sales. Don't let that stuff mix with the normal non-commercial discussions about flashlights. Also reviews of stuff that has been given by a store or manufacturer should be strictly forbidden anywhere else but in the commercial/reseller/store parts of the forum. It is by definition commercial marketing.
Suggestion: Post commercial content only in the areas intended for that purpose. That includes affiliate links and reviews of gifted goods. No total ban. Just make sure ALL commercial marketing is in the right place on the forum.
This is essentially what Rojos also say just here above. See aff links as commercial marketing. And follow the existing rules for commercial posts.
We should perhaps start to help by flagging commercial posts with affiliate links in the wrong areas as spam? That is what it is, isn't it?
I dont have time to go throught all this thread but heres my take on it:
Aff links look like shilling to me, at least the way some of the most active aff spammers post them.
I mean, it looks like this: “I posted a link to deal, now I deserve monetary reward for doing so, bitchez!”
When I did few reviews(year or two ago) where I either posted aff links or had item in question sent to me by seller who didnt want me to disclose that it was free item sent for review I was never able to post those aff links or reviews without slight feeling of guilt for doing so, I mean, not everyone shares the same views and needs for a product as reviewer does.
My advice to aff-whores is simple - start your own deals pages and put them into your signatures, if people will like your pages, they will click YOUR aff links in YOUR web pages and not on PUBLIC page which is neither OWNED nor RAN by you.
I simply see it as cheap way of spamming, Im glad that I didnt go this route, who knows, perhaps if money flowed in I might have started spamming this place back then just as shamelessly as some of you do with your aff links :bigsmile: .
Im against aff links in any threads other but your own reviews.
I just noticed this exchange in an older thread:
So it appears that the sniping between these two has been going on for a while now and that the kerfuffle that these two caused on the Budget Deals thread was just the latest episode.
While freeme and M4D M4X and other affiliates might not fit the traditional definition of commercial sellers, it appears that they have positioned themselves as professional middlemen and are engaged in a competition to see who can get more members to use their service. I think that makes them defacto commercial sellers. They may not be selling goods directly, but they are definitely selling a service.
It seems pretty obvious to me then that they should be asked to observe the forum rules that apply to commercial sellers. Honestly, just that simple move would solve all the problems associated with affiliates.
as said before:
i try to play by the rules -and when i think others don’t i point that out.
i do not want to be banned as collateral damage because some others played foul.
I contacted sb why it happened that posts from freeme and rolz have been updated and bumped.
could be a error in the script or …
the answer is pending 
freeme flat out uses every post as an advertisement, and even worked it in as his “location”.
Affiliate link Laundry Detergent and Fabric Care Products - Tide
Well, I’ve never personally noted that about freeme. But, maybe that is part of the deal here. Maybe some of us are just more sensitive to certain types of advertisement than others are. I tend to ignore advertisements to the point that I can’t even see them sometimes. So, the only advertisements that really bother me are those that actively get between me and whatever it is that I’m trying to look at or do. Maybe that means I’m a bit insensitive to the situation.
When money becomes involved in which flashlight to recommend, I lose all faith in said recommendation.
Affiliate links are terrible. They are poisoning this forum. They should be banned.
Ref Thread: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/29462
My memory is not perfect but I remembered posting the 4 international links first as they provide introductory offer at 50%. There were a lot of interest and bought that particular key-chain light. Offer soon expired after less than 2 weeks and not many people were able the discount. BG was one of the first to list them in their store and got them in one of their sale campaign. That was why BG link was shared on 12/12/2014. Why only BG store link? They are the "least" unlike store to date and price is lowest at that point of time.
Obviously you have not read my reply.
?page=1#comment-779077
Your new Tide sig is technically an advertisement in your post too. Should we regard you as a commercial seller now?
Oh, please. Muddying the difference between fair use of an icon, versus paid advertising by displaying an icon, versus a paid affiliate link?
Not helpful.
Right-click on the link he posted to Tide; copy the string behind the text, paste it into a text editor — and lo, it’s exactly the same words that you can read.
There’s no hidden code behind the text.
That’s fair use of a commercial icon as an illustration of how annoying it is to see graphics stuffed into everything advertising anything.
Of course there’s an easy answer — right-click on the annoying picture, and use Adblock.
Never see it again. Like I just did for your sig ad, for myself.
If I could do that with affiliate links — killfile them — I could solve this problem permanently all by myself, for myself — by choosing whose postings I am willing (sometimes eager) to see.
A few people do it right, with a single topic or their own website — I’d still rather see organized group buys, but hey, I can’t fix everything.
So you noticed, my Tide photo is just a joke for this thread only, from a Walmart page I think, and the link is just to some generic Tide page.
The point was to illustrate your advertising in every post that you make here, even capitalizing on your “location”.
I changed my signature line due to this thread… I write M4D M4X if I am interested in something that BangGood has, but I like his style too… I like affiliated links that are marked and LET YOU KNOW they are such. I do not care for stuff like FreeMe does, but he does seem to contribute some to the conversation as well outside of the advertising.
Perhaps a 51% rule? 51% of your posts have to contribute to the forum other than advertising, or you are banned for spamming?
I do not know a definite answer to this issue, but I do know this is one of the best forums on the net, PERIOD. Lots of good stuff and generally respect is shown all around, by new and old here. I just do not want the whole “other flashlight thread” stuff going on here (written and unwritten rules, really? What is an unwritten rule? Rules by nature must be referenced easily and not be changed on a whim, or we are back in kindergarten on the playground) I enjoy my time surfing this site… The other one I tolerate to seek some knowledge, but my blood pressure suffers sometimes due to the junk they push over there, and the attitudes they sometimes write with. My two cents…
Of course I knew it was joke.
Admin does not forbid either using using external link or alternative text to substitute the location field. I will act accordingly if such rules get implemented in future.
I am talking about advertising, not affiliated link.
Glad you found your way to hide those annoying ads or links. In order to filter away all posts with AFF-links, admin could come out with block user function where all his/her posts will be filter/ hide from your view. Another method will be... BAN all affiliated links in BLF which I am also supporting right now. 
If admin decides to not ban affiiliate links, what are you going to do?
I can voluntarily stop posting my AFF-links but will it guarantee a reduction in AFF-links? I do not think so, you can see that someone is trying to build his affiliation empire in here because many of his supporters have recognized his works. Moreover, every now and then you will see new member turned into affiliate over time. It will only place me in a very disadvantage position, if the rest continue what they are doing except me. That is why complete BAN will be a fairer approach.
Alternatively, I could follow the commercial seller rules and make all my new posts in commercial threads. It may turn that section into a huge mess because I do post more frequently than avg sellers. For that I make get reported again for spamming as commercial seller rule #1 states "Please make only a few threads in the Commercial Sellers' Spot category".
Apparently there is one person who is accountable for all these which I am waiting for his reply. I believe he is constantly watching from the side line without uttering a word.
I just wanted to save your reply for posterity. I don't think I need to write anything more.
On this forum it is possible to flag posts as spam. Could that be a way forward? If posts with aff links are posted outside the commercial reseller parts of the forum, we simply flag them as spam? Is that within the accepted use of the spam button?
I’m not clear on the terms, would that also include freeme’s ads that he puts into all of his posts here?