Localizing protein binding sites within genomic DNA is of considerable importance, but remains difficult for protein families, such as transcription factors, which have loosely defined target sequences. It is generally assumed that protein affinity for DNA involves additive contributions from successive nucleotide pairs within the target sequence. This is not necessarily true, and non-additive effects have already been experimentally demonstrated in a small number of cases. The principal origin of non-additivity involves the so-called indirect component of protein-DNA recognition which is related to the sequence dependence of DNA deformation induced during complex formation. Non-additive effects are difficult to study because they require the identification of many more binding sequences than are normally necessary for describing additive specificity (typically via the construction of weight matrices).