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Ginko Financial
Ginko Financial was established in December 2004 at a time when Second Life had less than 20000 residents. As one of the strongest brands in Second Life we …

FinAid! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans
Broadband Networking Financial News. … More news

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AARP Financial
AARP Financial offers a carefully chosen array of banking, insurance and investment solutions, and guidance so now you can do much more than dream.

Christian Financial Credit Union
GIFT DEPOSITS Visiting our site to make a gift deposit to a CFCU member account? Click on the link below to make your deposit.

Financial Aid - Western Illinois University
Financial Aid. The Financial Aid Office assists eligible students in meeting educational expenses while attending Western Illinois University. Assistance is provided through grants

Financial Aid Office - Lipscomb University - Nashville, Tennessee
Main Page WELCOME TO LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY. We strive to do everything we have the ability to to make a complete, distinctively Christian, Lipscomb education available for each student.

Finance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Finance studies and addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses , and organizations raise, allocate, and use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks

Securities, Insurance, and Compliance - Kaplan Financial
Insurance Licensing, Insurance Continuing Education, Securities Licensing, Advanced Designation, Compliance Solutions, Accelerate speed to market, boost revenue, and minimize risk

Financial Aid
Cornell University Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment Announcements. Regular Decision applicants: Regular Decision financial aid applications for the 2008-2009

Dell Financial Services
Offers a broad range of financing services to Dell customers.

*Ocwen Financial Corporation
Ocwen is a global financial services company offering a variety of products and services related to residential and commercial mortgage servicing, origination services, collections

Financial Aid - Wake Technical Community College
Mission: The Wake Tech Financial Aid program exists to ensure that no qualified student will be denied the opportunity to continue his or her education because of economic

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Filed under: Internet Tools

On a tip from a reader I started up a packet sniffer before I ran a search for “Nintendo” in Dave Watanabe’s Inquisitor plugin for Safari. Sure enough, the first link presented was an Amazon link, with an affiliate redirect (associate tag: exoscience).

I’m not shouting anything about the sky falling. I actually think it’s great when software developers find ways to provide astounding products to users for free. This case simply raises a question of transparency. Most of us who spend any time on the ‘net already know that if we click a link to a retailer from a blog or reviewer’s website, there’s a good chance they’ll be getting a cut of any conversions. It’s when those links are directly promoted by the owner and the affiliate urls are masked that it becomes a question of ethics for some.

It’s certainly not required of Amazon associates that they reveal their affiliate links. But when you’re providing a search service, especially when it’s touted as using Google results, sticking an affiliate link in as the highest ranked result does raise some questions. Sure, we use Inquisitor of our own free will (and for free), but transparency on the part of the author would make the choice to do so a more legitimate one.

Thanks Allan!

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