The battle over search between merchants and affiliates

[minstrel]

The battle over search between merchants and affiliates
by Mike Moran
April 14, 2009

A couple of years ago, I wrote about the Search Engine Tug of War between merchants and affiliates, and the basics haven't changed much since I wrote that article. But more and more companies running affiliate marketing programs are changing their policies on paid search. Recently, the granddaddy of all affiliate marketing programs, Amazon Associates, announced that they are curtailing some of their payments for paid search.

The basis for this battle is quite simple. Merchants want the extra sales that affiliates provide, but they want them at the lowest possible cost, provoking a constant skirmish over what practices add new sales versus raise the price for sales that would have happened anyway.

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[Linda Buquet]

Good catch David. Thanks for posting. There are so many different ways to look at this issue and I tend to side with affiliates, yet can see the merchant side too. Good to read Mike's viewpoint on the subject.