In the last two years, the number of web sites offering coupons and discount codes has more than tripled, to more than 500, says Jack Vonder Heide, president of Technology Briefing Centers. But what many of them are offering has gotten increasingly lousy. The number of counterfeit printable coupons has also grown three-fold, while lousy code sites now outnumber legit ones by at least four to one, according to estimates from manufacturers. The problems are so widespread that as few as 50 coupon-clipping sites are “really worthwhile,” says Vonder Heide.
The explosion of coupon-clipping sites is largely due to how easy it is for would-be entrepreneurs to start their own operation thanks to cheap and simple technology and plenty of retailers willing to pay pennies per click for the referrals. But for consumers, the crowded market makes finding real deals more difficult. Many sites only offer coupons they make money on, while the better sites try to round up all the best deals even those they don’t directly profit from. Some sites have ditched “coupons” altogether, relying on a one-two punch of fake offers that get you to click and spyware that lingers on your computer to earn the site a commission for any future web purchases, says Vonder Heide.
Read more here: The New Best Coupon-Clipping Sites