A promotional email sent today by the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf hotlinks to servers from Forbes.com, the Washington Business Journal and The Business Review.
The email reproduced logos of the publishing companies, pulling the images off the companies’ individual servers and creating the impression that the companies were endorsing the controversial surf firm. URLs that identify the servers are contained in code hidden on the page. The code is visible when viewing the properties of the email.
Separately, individual AVG members used a Forbes logo and links to Forbes to promote the surf. AVG issued a news release through PR Newswire today, and Forbes published the PR Newswire feed. Forbes’ logo also appeared on a forum frequented by AVG members.
It was not immediately clear if Forbes, the Washington Business Journal and The Business Review had authorized use of their logos or the hotlinking, which consumes bandwidth at the expense of the companies.
In the email, AVG did not link to the PR Newswire URL for the news release. Instead, the surf linked to a Forbes URL that republished the PR Newswire feed.
AdSurfDaily (ASD), a surf firm with close ties to AVG, was accused last year of operating a $100 million Ponzi scheme from a former flower shop in Quincy, Fla. Promoters claimed that ASD President Andy Bowdoin had received a special award from the White House for business achievement, but Bowdoin actually was a convicted felon who received an award from the National Republican Congressional Committee for campaign contributions, prosecutors said.
Some ASD members also claimed Google had entered into a partnership with ASD, but the claim proved to be a click-fraud attempt in which ASD members were encouraged to click on ads so ASD could earn fees.
Meanwhile, AVG announced that it was ending a 200-percent, matching-bonus program on June 5, twenty-four days earlier than advertised. The surf previously told members the promotion would end June 29.
AVG has advertised matching bonuses as high as 250 percent. During a 200-percent promotion, a promoter claimed $5,000 spent with AVG turned into $15,000 “instantly!”
The surf purports to be headquartered in Uruguay, but today’s PR Newswire release carried a dateline of Tallahassee. The promotional email AVG sent said the email originated in Uruguay.