CTO of KowaBunga (owned by THK) on his company's exposure to Adware

Jeff Doak, CTO of affiliate marketing company KowaBunga Marketing, which is owned by Think Partnership (ticker: THK), sent me the following in response to The Internet Danger List: stocks at risk from Spitzer's attack on Adware which he suggested I publish:

I'm the CTO at KowaBunga (part of THK), which is an affiliate marketing company that has taken a stance against spyware.

I've been in the industry since the beginning, really, and represent one of the few affiliate marketing companies willing to take a public stand against spyware.

THK as a company is also making it policy that we do our best to eliminate spyware from any divisions within the company. We don't want the stock or any of our brands tied to spyware in any way.

My main concerns:

1. Jeff Molander, though I respect him as a friend, really doesn't have any hard evidence that Primary Ads has a relationship with 180Solutions; his ReveNews article was based on second hand knowledge. Jeff has every right in the world to publish what he has heard (and he knows I encourage him to continue doing so), but I think that should be made clear. We have personally taken a look at their program and have found no spyware affiliates, and they have made a point of letting us know that they used 180Solutions as an affiliate when they first opened business but quickly dropped them (within two months) when they found out how they were driving traffic. Although other CPA networks may be "dirty," all evidence thus far would indicate that Primary Ads is clean of spyware and are dedicated to staying clean.

2. Even if they did have that relationship, THK would not "face particular risk," in my opinion, especially compared to the other companies you mention. The great majority of THK's revenues are from SEO sales and service, not from the newly acquired Primary Ads. KowaBunga makes little or no revenue if one of our clients has spyware in their program, as we do not charge clients based on transactions. And as mentioned above, we are actively helping our merchants keep their programs clean of spyware. THK as a company has made it policy to use only "white hat" tactics in all of their businesses.

Jeff Doak
CTO, KowaBunga Marketing

THK chart below.