<s>
On	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
,	O
cookie	B-Application
stuffing	I-Application
(	O
also	O
cookie	B-Application
dropping	I-Application
)	O
is	O
an	O
affiliate	O
marketing	O
technique	O
in	O
which	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
visiting	O
a	O
website	O
,	O
a	O
user	O
receives	O
a	O
third-party	O
cookie	O
from	O
a	O
website	O
unrelated	O
to	O
that	O
visited	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
,	O
usually	O
without	O
the	O
user	O
being	O
aware	O
of	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cookie	B-Application
stuffing	I-Application
is	O
often	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
a	O
blackhat	O
online	O
marketing	O
technique	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
problem	O
occurs	O
when	O
a	O
cookie	B-Application
stuffing	I-Application
site	O
stuffs	O
all	O
its	O
visitors	O
with	O
a	O
batch	O
of	O
cookies	O
in	O
a	O
scattergun	O
approach	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Operators	O
of	O
websites	O
that	O
allow	O
user-generated	O
content	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
forums	B-Application
that	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
post	O
content	O
,	O
should	O
be	O
aware	O
of	O
the	O
various	O
cookie	B-Application
stuffing	I-Application
techniques	O
,	O
and	O
how	O
to	O
combat	O
them	O
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
protect	O
their	O
visitors	O
from	O
this	O
type	O
of	O
activity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cookie	B-Application
stuffing	I-Application
can	O
be	O
accomplished	O
with	O
something	O
as	O
simple	O
as	O
including	O
an	O
image	O
in	O
a	O
forum	O
post	O
or	O
signature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Techniques	O
used	O
to	O
accomplish	O
cookie	B-Application
stuffing	I-Application
are	O
very	O
similar	O
to	O
those	O
used	O
in	O
cross-site	B-Protocol
request	I-Protocol
forgery	I-Protocol
(	O
CSRF	B-Protocol
)	O
attacks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pop-ups	O
are	O
actually	O
a	O
method	O
of	O
cookie	B-Application
stuffing	I-Application
accepted	O
by	O
most	O
affiliate	O
networks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
probably	O
the	O
most	O
innocent	O
form	O
of	O
cookie	B-Application
stuffing	I-Application
,	O
but	O
is	O
still	O
stuffing	O
none-the-less	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Affiliate	O
links	O
can	O
be	O
put	O
in	O
directly	O
or	O
by	O
creating	O
a	O
redirect	O
in	O
their	O
.htaccess	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
JavaScript	B-Language
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
force	O
a	O
user	O
to	O
visit	O
any	O
URL	O
where	O
the	O
end	O
result	O
is	O
visiting	O
the	O
affiliate	O
URL	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cascading	B-Language
Style	I-Language
Sheets	I-Language
define	O
how	O
a	O
web	O
page	O
will	O
be	O
displayed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Adobe	B-Operating_System
Flash	I-Operating_System
is	O
commonly	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
interactive	O
media	O
on	O
the	O
web	O
,	O
and	O
contains	O
functionality	O
which	O
allows	O
developers	O
to	O
force	O
a	O
website	O
user	O
to	O
visit	O
an	O
affiliate	O
link	O
while	O
removing	O
or	O
spoofing	O
the	O
referrer	O
information	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
affiliate	O
network	O
wo	O
n't	O
know	O
where	O
the	O
traffic	O
came	O
from	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
common	O
tactic	O
is	O
to	O
have	O
the	O
spoofed	O
referring	O
site	O
be	O
a	O
legitimate	O
or	O
white	O
hat	O
affiliate	O
site	O
to	O
mask	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
cookie	B-Application
stuffing	I-Application
is	O
being	O
carried	O
out	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2008	O
,	O
eBay	O
sued	O
four	O
successful	O
affiliate	O
marketers	O
on	O
their	O
platform	O
who	O
had	O
used	O
cookie	B-Application
stuffing	I-Application
techniques	O
.	O
</s>
