I understand the porn and poker spammers - they aren't "respectable" businesses, so they don't really worry about their reputations. It's different for a vendor like these guys: www.thebiggestdeal.com. It looks like someone ran a bot on a server owned by a business partner, sending referer spam out. It's unclear whether that partner did it, or had a machine "owned" - but it looks like my initial assumptions were wrong. I've been exchanging email with Bill White, the President of the company - he sounds like a standup guy. The spammers do damage wherever they go