[ThePhoneSpot]

First of all, I must iterate that this issue relates purely to The Phone Spot. As Fraser correctly points out, Carphone Warehouse have worked intermittently with GAIN in the past, but no adware has been used since we became Carphone’s agency in April, nor have we run any blind CPA activity.

With regards to the Phone Spot, we have never purchased directly from Zango, but have been running CPA activity through a 3rd party since launch in 2005. They use a variety of partners, which have recently included Zango. Once identified, we contacted them immediately but it has taken longer than expected to suspend the activity. We can only apologise for the delay, but they’ve now reassured us that all activity has ceased. If you suspect any further use of adware, please do not hesitate to contact me.

The Phone Spot programmes on Buy.at and Commission Junction have grown spectacularly over the last few months and we recognise that it is more important to keep our publishers happy than to drive a few extra sales using “contextual” activity, even if this is through a 3rd party reseller. We make it clear in our T&Cs that we do not accept adware publishers on our programmes, and it is only right that we enforce an equally tight policy for the remainder of our marketing activity. In light of this, we’ve reviewed all blind CPA agreements, and those lacking transparency have been suspended.


Rupert Privett
Essence Media