My take is that I am more than comfortable rewarding affiliates when they add value. However, when they are paid for listing books with no added value it may lead to link spam.
If I just want to pages of free or reduced books, I can go to Amazon directly, or Ereaderiq.com . Visits here often don't add much value for me.
Where I find value is when someone helps me find good books that are bargains/free. Rather than hearing about every possible free book (link spam IMO) I would rather hear about ones that were highly rated, or about ones that the poster recommended from their own interest. Or, even a post from an author as long as the book was a bargain (otherwise go to the self-promotion thread). Ideally an affiliate would start with the list of all bargain books and reduce them to those that they recommend.
Today, I handle this by paying more attention to posts from some people that are more likely to fit my definition of quality posters.
However, I have no complaints about the others. I'm a big believer in entrepreneurship and wish the affiliates success in their activities. I mean this post more as possible market research information that might tell these folks how this particular consumer makes his buying decisions. If my thoughts are representative, it could help them to improve their success rate. If I am a lone voice, then no problem.
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