Interesting. I didn't notice the affiliate links the first time and then when I did look, I saw domain names like kqzyfj.com. What purpose does it serve to hide the fact that it's an affiliate link behind a disposable domain name? Are there things like Firefox extensions that would search for "commissionjunction.com" and replace it with non-affiliate links?
Those weird domains are Commission Junction. That's how they hand out the links, nothing Jeff did on his own. They moved all their affiliate links to a set of gibberish domains many years ago... I can only speculate why, but software that removes tracking cookies, and malware that rewrites affiliate links to credit the sales to someone else, are the first things that come to mind.
I always look for affiliate links when bloggers suddenly start shilling merchandise outside of their competency.
I don't mind when there's an obvious "best prices" DIV at the bottom or wherever, where its purpose and commercial motivation is obvious, but embedded affiliate links just feel....scummy.
It's like getting invited to dinner and the host starts an Amway pitch. It colours the entire presentation.
I realize this is a bit off topic but how do you feel about disclosure right there in the blog post? Something like "if you follow that link, I'll get some money"? I wrestle with this every time I link to something in a blog post. I've mostly settled on the affiliate link disclosure followed by an affiliate free one.
