When I used to work in IT support at large organisations, I had the occasional thought about how brilliant it would be if I could sneak an affiliate link on to the thousands of desktop computers used through out the company.

Toshiba, it seems, has had the same bright idea. I was helping a friend set up a new Toshiba laptop which I noticed two rather pretty preinstalled shortcuts on the desktop. One to Amazon.co.uk and one to eBay.co.uk. When I took a closer look, it was apparent that both these links were commission earning affiliate links. As well as these shortcuts, there was two sidebar gadgets for searching Amazon and eBay.

From Toshiba's point of view, I guess it's a smart move and reasonably logical. But from the point of view of independent publishers, it could be quite a blow if manufacturers make sure their affiliate links to the top online shopping destinations are prominently displayed as desktop icons and sidebar gadgets from the moment the PC is first switched on.

Does anyone else know if other manufacturers are doing the same? Do you think it's anything affiliates should be concerned about?