Senate Hearing Focuses on Online Loyalty Programs

Words like "scam," "fraud," and "arrest" filled the air during a Senate hearing that focused on the controversial marketing companies that allegedly dupe consumers into paying monthly fees to join online loyalty programs. Vertrue, Webloyalty, and Affinion generated more than $1.4 billion by "misleading" Web shoppers, said members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which called the hearing.