How To Handle Potential Ad Clients When They Spam My Site?

First the inquiry about ads, then they try spamming my users

[maximillianos]

I get this scenario quite often. A company will contact me regarding running ads on my site. I reply with our prices (which are reasonable) and we begin a dialog on a potential partnership.

A few days later my moderators pick up on a spammer posting links and solicitations all over the site trying to drum up business. Coincidentally the spammer is promoting the same company I just quoted for advertising... ;-)

Obviously my mods nuked the account, but what do you do from a business perspective? In this economy, do I need to put that crap aside and still pursue their business, or just drop them like a bad habit (which is what I want to do, and what I typically did in the past).

I just hate to see money walk out the door, but obviously there is an ethics issue here... and if I was to do business with him, it would be on a pre-pay only basis...

What do you think? Keep in mind our income streams have been drying up lately, and we are really looking to land some more ad partners.

Thanks for any feedback.

[Rosalind]

Your first instinct is the right one, I'd say. Business requires trust. If they spam, what are the chances you can trust them not to try to mess you about with chargebacks, or find other ways to get something for nothing? Also consider the implications of accepting ads from someone who has annoyed a lot of your regulars.

[maximillianos]

Good point. Though often our regulars will call out a spammer and give them the link to our advertising info section... So I am not sure they would care either way as long as the company was paying for it.

Since this post, the guy actually emailed us and said he noticed his account was removed, and wanted to know if he had violated our site rules. He went on to say he was only "testing" out our site for conversions for his site by posting links to his site. He posted about 18 spam comments before a mod nuked his account.

So he did come clean once he got nuked... I guess I'll wait to see if he comes back and inquires with our ad department...

[C7Mike]

If they're still interested in dealing with you then you know that you have a good negotiating position, since they liked your traffic.

This spammer revealed a trend of hesitance amongst potential advertisers. It might be worthwhile to offer a taste sample of your traffic (without giving the store away).

Just a thought.