I address this on a case by case example.

I usually do a little investigation of their website, checking alexa ranking, back links, etc. Usually you can get an idea and "feel" for the person and see where they are at.

It's very common for me to get requests for "evaluation" copies and I do give them out if I can see they have some expertise and seem to know what they are doing.

I do help my affiliates as much as possible. In many cases they didn't need a review copy, they just needed some help with how to go about promoting it, which of course I was happy to provide.

Also I don't only worry about a list, as some of my affiliates do very well with no list in the web 2.0 game.

Cheers



Tim