The future of affiliates

[BongoBing]

What does the future hold for affiliates? Google does not like us as much, even if we do a better job than the merchant at promoting products. Merchants are moving towards affiliate programs instead of having a huge marketing/sales department, what does this mean for the affiliate world? Growth because of the merchants or squashing and removal by google?

[Linda Buquet]

I think affiliate marketing will always be around in some form or another. Pay for performance is too attractive for the industry to go away and affiliates that are flexible and change with the times will always be able to find a way to drive traffic.

Google is fine with affiliates that add value, she just does not like "thin" affiliate sites. Strong affiliates have grown, adapted, found ways to add that value and they will continue to thrive.

[BongoBing]

Interesting. What are your thoughts on affiliate product compilers like pricegrabber.com or shopzilla.com? (Are they considered an affiliate product compiler or are they not because its based on CPC?)

[Kutaone]

I am new to affiliate marketing but I am not new to resellers, VARS, and smart business etc. The commission that companies pay affiliates are much smaller than some might pay someone who is reselling or OEMing their product.

It's cheaper to pay someone ten to fifteen percent than to hire a salesman/woman and pay him/her a salary or commission plus insurance plus a desk etc.

Google doesn't like affiliates who have a store and nothing else. If you provide good content etc then Google could care less if you are an affiliate etc.

That's my two cents and if those of you who have more experience have a different view plz step in and correct me. I am not too proud to admit I might be wrong...

Kutaone

[BongoBing]

What I don't get is why Affiliates are not allowed on Google Base even if they do provide added value?

[Clintoc]

Here is the solution to all of this, and more.

This has just recently come to me, though it was prevalent all along.

The easiest way to become a successful affiliate is to....


Solve people's problems.

I have had success selling products to be selling them. And in fact my early successes were towards this fact.

But my first efforts...

And its whopping 5-10 unique visitors a day...

is my consistent sales force... I just wish there was more to realistically promote on this niche.

But back to topic, this website/blog solves a problem, so I get consistent sales easily.

I tested another niche around a problem, a bigger problem. It is a constant problem that will be around until the end of time. It is NOT weight loss.

But in short. 7 articles drive 20-30 clicks to the merchant page every day. I picked the wrong product to start, but I have changed gears and am giving this niche a go.

And my articles and efforts will again be directed towards....


fixing a problem.

[Clintoc]

As far as performance marketingis concerned, there is no reason to suspect that it will go anywhere anytime soon. There is far too much benefit in the end to all parties involved for this to go away.

The merchant gets sales without having to hire additional personnel. These people are only paid when they perform, instead of being paid week in and out regardless.

The affiliate gets paychecks for his/her efforts. The harder they work, the more they learn and put those lessons into action, the more they can make.

Google gets money from merchants AND affiliates promoting products for sale. While it does give some back in form of adsense revenues, it is far less than they take in. Google is the multi-billion dollar powerhouse it is because of PPC, so believe me when I say that they do not want affiliates gone... they just want them to contribute more than a thin affiliate site to the internet. For this the world is thankful, even if it makes things harder at times.

[Joseph Ratliff]

Google doesn't hate affiliates. Their board doesn't meet in a room somewhere and say "Well, let's see if we can identify all of the affiliate sites out there and eliminate them."

In fact, so long as affiliates are following the same "rules" that everyone else does in Google's network...they are as welcome as a merchant.

Many so-called "affiliates" try to take shortcuts that merchants and other websites don't in trying to "beat" the system Big G has, which may be contributing to the impression that "Google hates affiliates."

Google has two objectives...

1) To make profit for their shareholders and Founders.

2) To provide relevant and valuable content for searchers.

#2 is what advertisers are paying Big G for...to have their ads shown to relevant audiences...therefore it's in Google's interest to make sure garbage sites are NOT shown in the front 3 pages of listings.

Google doesn't really care about your business (nor anyone else's*)...and never will, but for you to benefit using Google's tools and network...you do have to care about Google's business.

The better you provide relevant, updated, and valuable content for the keywords you want to be found for in Google's search engine, and for Google's search customers, the better you'll do within their network...period.

* you could argue that Google does care about its paid advertisers I guess.

[beryas]

In my opinion affiliate marketing will be around in one form or another because it really has always been even before the internet. The only thing that is concerning is here in the United States many states are getting tax happy and killing the profits of affiliates. I think in the future many large companies may become more selective in who they let promote their products.

[BongoBing]

What do you mean by tax happy? What are the taxes that Affiliates have to pay?