Affiliate links in blogs

[desgensd]

Hello all,

I was in the process of searching a good affiliate network to join and came across a few suprises when reading the different agreements. Some network do not allow to place there affiliate links in blogs. An example is Commission Junction :

..."You may not place Links to an Advertiser's Web site or Web site content in third party newsgroups, message boards, blogs, unsolicited email and other types of spam, link farms, counters, chatrooms, or guestbooks."

Alot of people talk about inserting links in blogs. I'm a bit confused ! can anyone give me a hand ! Can we or not insert links and if we can, how to proceed by remaining legit !

Thanks

Daniel

[Klaas Koopman]

Hey Daniel,

I never seen this before or heard about this before! So I'll be awaiting an answer aswell, seems quite important. Otherwise you should/could only use your blogs for linkbuilding to your other sites and ofcourse using adsense on it...

[Linda Buquet]

The key words in that sentence: "third party"

They are referring to spamming other people's forums and blogs in the comment section. You can post links in your own blog or forum. No merchant or network would ever prohibit that.

[Klaas Koopman]

Ofcourse Ofcourse, dummy me! Thanks for clearing that up! It all relates to spam!

[desgensd]

So from what you are saying, I could not reply in a blog with an affiliate link if let's say someone os looking for a particular product or service ? I could only insert links in blogs I create myself ?

Tks for all the help !

Daniel

[TheCaymanHost]

Hi Daniel,

With bloggers and forum owners fighting constant battles against spam comments and people trying to "sneak" affiliate links into comments and posts, it is basically seen as very poor form to do it.

However, if you are ever tempted to push a link in either a blog or a forum you should first read the site's rules, the affiliate program's rules, and then and only then, if you are not breaking any of those rules should you even consider posting that link. (Blogs will often not have any posting rules, but that is not to say your affiliate link is acceptable - there are unwritten rules when it comes to blog commenting and you can easily find your reply labelled as human comment spam). If the owner/moderator of the site thinks you are out of order you will at best find your link deleted or at worst yourself deleted or blocked from future posting at the site in question, so you need to consider your action very carefully.

A great many bloggers will simply delete your entire comment if they think you are just trying to blag some free advertising for an affiliate program and possibly ban future comments from your IP, report your comment as spam, give you a public tongue lashing etc etc. (I would normally expect to see a link to a blog via the comment author's name. Anything else makes me look more closely at the comment). Whilst there may be instances where I feel an affiliate link is OK they would be very few and far between. Basically whatever the outcome, thoughtless posting of affiliate links in these areas will do you more harm than good in the long run.

If you think you have the ideal product or service to recommend in response to a question in a forum or a discussion on a blog, it is better to invite anyone interested to contact you for a URL if they want to know more, or perhaps mention that you have posted about the subject over at your own blog. If they are interested they can go there for more information and you won't have put anyone's nose out of joint. Be honest about being an affiliate too because a lot of people hate to feel that they are being deceived, even if that is not your intention, some will perceive it that way.

Hope that helps some.

Mo

[desgensd]

Hi Mo,

Your answer was quite helpful. I wantes to obtain more information on the "netiquette" for affiliates relating to blogs.

Thanks for clearing everything up !

Daniel

[TheCaymanHost]

Hi Daniel

You're welcome. Think of commenting this way - are you adding something useful to the conversation by way of reaction or information? Just typing something inane like "Great Site, thanks - my blog has information about XYZ" followed by a URL, will see you deleted from most well run blogs very quickly.

There has been a very interesting discussion recently over at this blog about comment etiquette and spam if you want to know more about some blogger's views on acceptable/unacceptable behavior.

Of course, it's all a matter of opinion but a sensible approach will benefit you, whereas ultimately, a selfish one, will get you nowhere.

Mo