EQUTE — ValueClick is in some hot water over its allegedly shady business practices.

According to a class action lawsuit put forth by investors, ValueClick knowingly hid “the willful and ongoing violations of federal law governing the conduct of the advertising and promotion business that lie at the heart of ValueClick’s business operation.”

The lawsuit comes on top of Oprah and Dr. Oz’ lawsuit against the slew of acai berry advertisements featuring their likenesses and is another blow to the market of affiliate marketing.

ValueClick allegedly violated the CAN-SPAM law and the FTC act by pushing pop-up ads, “free” gift offers and gleaning private information from unsuspecting consumers.

The company also, allegedly, hid all the shady practices from investors despite the fact that they knew they were being or would likely be investigated soon.

ValueClick has offered up a $10 million settlement in response to the lawsuit.

The affiliate marketing industry won’t see a huge upheaval or likely even any immediate results. But this type of bad business does make the industry look unprofessional and keep advertisers — and their money — out of what can be an incredibly valuable and legitimate business.

Advertising networks are at the front lines of these types of shady offers — and if they don’t see what is going on, they are not paying attention.

Big name advertisers and their money will flow toward the professional networks that keep free diet pills and info-mining contest offers out of their business model.