Parasite:

• Software that works on a person’s computer, typically without their knowledge or consent and without a visible interface.  It can include software that’s installed along with another application.

Parasites are pretty universally looked down upon amongst white-hat, legit affiliate marketers.  Recently there was a class-action lawsuit against Commission Junction for allowing affiliates using parasitic software to continue earning commissions, so this is serious business.  More specific types of software that tend to fall under this category are malware, spyware, and adware.

Whenever you’re installing a program you’ve downloaded from the internet, always pay attention and look into the Custom Installation options to see what unnecessary features or secondary programs might be automatically installed onto your computer.    I also periodically take a look at my list of installed programs through my Control Panel to make sure nothing that I don’t recognize got past me.  For Mac users check the /Applications/ folder.

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Glossary Definition From ABC’s of Online Marketing by Alexandra Wharton, Issue 22, Revenue Magazine

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