Filed under: Internet Tools
Inquisitor raises some questions
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 amazing 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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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Ridwan said 10:40PM on 1-07-2008
Dave Watanabe is a sketch ball. I won't use his software, period.
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flec65 said 10:44PM on 1-07-2008
Freeware or not, we expect a transparent behavior from the the developer and his app. I'm done with this guy. His practices are questionable if not very suspicious. He's simply too greedy. First, it was the Acquisition 2 fiasco, now this. I use Newsfire but not for a long time. NetNewsWire, here I come...
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Samuel Clarke said 10:54PM on 1-07-2008
That stinks - if you do something for free don't alter the results to suit your own ends...
Sure all the browsers make money from search engines, but they don't alter the results to do it.
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Jeremy said 11:07PM on 1-07-2008
The Firefox thing is very different. They're not altering the search results. This app tells you it's giving you Google search results, and then sneaks stuff in that isn't from those search results.
Merely adding the affiliate code to Amazon results that appear in the results anyway would be fine by me.
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Andy Skogrand said 11:09PM on 1-07-2008
For the record, his p2p software is XTorrent, not Transmission.
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Aaron Gyes said 11:13PM on 1-07-2008
I'm quite aware of the issue. Xtorrent uses libtransmission. The Transmission team works very hard on adding new features, and then he gives just about zero credit. He posts things on his website like "Encryption in the works!" when he hears the open source developers hard at work. Perfectly legal given the license, but the guys just an ass. Lots of reports of him being a pretty big ass to his own customers too, it's not like he's just an adept businessperson.
pcx said 11:25PM on 1-07-2008
Aaron Gyes,
The transmission guys changed the license for some bits of code probably to try and stop DW using it. Who knows if DW is using any of the newly licensed code but if i recall correctly xtorrent got some new features that matched new features in transmission that were under the new license
Joe Eversole said 11:10PM on 1-07-2008
There are some very interesting things to be found in the strings output of /Library/InputManagers/Inquisitor/Inquisitor.bundle/Contents/Resources/InquisitorCore.bundle/Contents/MacOS/InquisitorCore.
It has a series of keywords that it drops in a top Amazon hit for, plugging in the appropriate amazon site (.com, .de, etc) with the corresponding associates tag. There's a whole list in there (some include: sony, canon, warcraft, elmo, xbox, weber, blackberry, britney spears, fergie, lindsay lohan, saddam hussein (!)). Then there's the plugs for Xtorrent and Acquisition....
Next are the Apple Store affiliate links... iphone, aperture, imac, Macbook Pro, iPod Touch, Nano, Apple TV... all of these have the first link to "store.apple.com" with a blurb that's included in the strings (struck part of the affiliate code... doesn't need any more clicks than it's gotten already)...
apple tv
If it's on iTunes, it's on TV.
Apple TV (Apple Store)
http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-######-10479833?url=http%3A%2F%2Fstore.apple.com%3
Fnode%3Dhome%2Fipod%2Fapple_tv%26tg_FC57F0D4%3Dtab2%26cid%3DAOS-US-AFF-FEED%26ao
sid%3Dp201%26cjid%3D%25za-%25zp-%25zs&cjsku=MB189
Removed the program... I think I registered this thing back when it first came out... guess I wasn't irritated enough that what was once shareware became free.... but, now we know why it became free. Should have been more skeptical....
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Joe Eversole said 11:52PM on 1-07-2008
I went a bit more in-depth on my blog. It's linked on my profile page (not trying to spam).
Toby said 11:22PM on 1-07-2008
Disappointing. It is not that it is being done, it is simply that he never disclosed it. If he'dmad eit a point upfront no one would care.
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Jonathan Badeen said 11:28PM on 1-07-2008
Develovers, developers, developers!!! Somebody startup an open-source version on Google Code!!!!
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kakapo said 11:39PM on 1-07-2008
Well Inquisitor just evaporated out of my world! Seripticiousness is not accepted. Be open and clear and I will support you. Hide your processes and I start to wonder what else you are doing with my data. Too much sniffing! Too much BS.
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David Chartier said 11:54PM on 1-07-2008
Yea, but did you run the same search from google.com and see if that Amazon affiliate link appears in the same order?
After that, did you log out of your Google Account to make sure that your non-Inquisitor search results weren't being re-prioritized based on your Google History?
There could be more to the story here. I've seen Amazon links appear at or near the top of a lot of Google searches, Inquisitor or otherwise.
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David Chartier said 11:54PM on 1-07-2008
Yea, but did you run the same search from google.com and see if that Amazon affiliate link appears in the same order?
After that, did you log out of your Google Account to make sure that your non-Inquisitor search results weren't being re-prioritized based on your Google History?
There could be more to the story here. I've seen Amazon links appear at or near the top of a lot of Google searches, Inquisitor or otherwise.
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Allan said 12:03AM on 1-08-2008
I tried it via Google and definitely logged out, and it gives completely different results. You can see from running "strings" on the app which searches it is pre-programmed to hijack, including:
exilim, bravia, aquos, gears of war, super mario, final fantasy, pokemon, saddam hussein, paris hilton, neopets, angelina jolie, lindsay lohan, britney spears, fergie,
beyonce knowles, shakira, ciara, iwork and ilife.
It also uses sends Apple Store-related searches via some company called "Commission Junction".
Brett Terpstra said 12:07AM on 1-08-2008
Yep. A search on google.com for "Nintendo" (my test case) reveals exactly 0 Amazon links (paid or natural) for me. And nothing on that page is linked with a referral code of exoscience :).
George said 12:01AM on 1-08-2008
The funny thing is, had he just added affiliate links without altering search results order, and had been transparent about this, it almost might have encouraged me to use it more. If the shadiness pans out to be true, later Inquisitor.
Wasn't it an inquisitor's job back in the day to torture the desired answer out of the victims? If these allegations are true, it's an aptly-named application.
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kakapo said 12:26AM on 1-08-2008
Part 2: removed Inquisitor from all Library locations - had quit Safari - went to empty trash - Inquisitor is still working! Hmmmm. Even when Safari is not loaded. So, I OnyXed my MacPro system - repaired permissions on my 17" - and then was able to delete Inquisitor. Why does a "search engine" helper need my root permission any way? Any clues?
No longer a fan.
Thanks TUAW and Allan!!!!
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sageimac said 1:03AM on 1-08-2008
Like nobody knew you could buy Nintendo at Amazon. Inquisitor is a great product. Try entering WTF.
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Tristan said 1:04AM on 1-08-2008
search for bittorrent and see first result :)
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