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Last Updated on December 28, 2020 by Work In My Pajamas
I was lucky to stumble into the affiliate marketing arena in its infancy some odd thirteen years ago. I had a handful of competitors, unlike today’s millions. In fact, back then, I called most of those competitors friends. There was a YahooGroup for coupon sites where we actually helped each other out. I’ll be forever indebted to Gayle from CleverClickster for teaching me basic skills, like how to cloak affiliate links. I was inspired by Tim Storm of FatWallet and Connie from FlamingoWorld who gave me motivation to grow my brand bigger.
Then along came adware, spyware and scummy parasiteware stealing all our hard-earned commissions. I had learned to diversify over the years adding additional ways to earn revenue on my sites, from CPM banner ads to pay-per-click campaigns to sponsored blog posts to social media pushes.
And all along the way, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Google. I “google” everything from how to fix php errors to diagnose medical conditions to investigate potential date offers. Yet I get frustrated when Google Adwords denies my affiliate site URLs saying they are simply bridge pages and overlooking the compelling and engaging content that I worked so hard to create.
Now, after Google’s latest Panda and Penguin updates kicked a majority of affiliate sites out of the search results, I thought about titling this blog post “Google Hates Affiliates” but Ad Hustler beat me to the punch. Maybe the conspiracy theory of GAN buying out Performics to spy on affiliates’ practices is true? I have heard from dozens of other affiliates whose businesses have had their affiliate marketing income wiped out almost completely after the updates.
So I wonder, what is the future of affiliate marketing as we know it?
I think gone are the days of small affiliates being “super affiliates”, because seriously how can a mom and pop shop compete with Fortune 500 companies such as Chase and that are now affiliates themselves? I see Gayle now has her website for sale. Ebates bought out Fatwallet. And Connie went on to use her knowledge to develop For Me To Coupon which now powers most of the big players in the coupon space.
As for me, I’m not throwing in the towel on affiliate marketing just yet. But I’m definitely weighing my options for the future because as Vivian Greene once said, “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
What’s your take on the situation?
Yeah, a person could look at what Google is doing and think that. And maybe they’d be right. Especially someone in the industry. But it’s just the evolution of the business. I remember the Florida update in 2003. I had over 60 websites at that time, all affiliate sites and I was doing VERY well. Then got smacked overnight and lost 75% of my rankings.
Sound familiar to Penguin/Panda?
I made the choice back then to not build a business model around a search engine’s whim. In ways I was right seeing what has happened today, but in ways I missed out big time because a lot of affiliates made a big bankroll for all those years before the latest smackdown. Some of which you mentioned, and many more we all know who you didn’t mention.
The good news is that you’re ahead of the game and smart and I’m sure have already been diversifying your business and adopting to the change. There is no doubt you’ll be back on top in no time.
The past few years have been rough, and I’m sure the road ahead definitely doesn’t get any easier for the traditional solo/small business affiliate.
I would kill for one more 2009!
I think you’re way ahead of the curve when it comes to diversified income streams and traffic sources.
I remember @garyvee’s keynote at my first Affiliate Summit. He said something along the lines that if your business relies on Google or any other source, you don’t have much of a brand and you don’t have a sustainable business. I knew he was right, but it was pretty scary.
Diversified income streams, diversified traffic sources… easier said than done!
There’s still room for performance marketing, because it has a great value proposition for advertisers, the ones that pay the bills. I’m finding innovative affiliate businesses all the time — but that’s the thing; they’re standalone brand-able sites, that happen to be monetized (perhaps partially) through affiliate sales. Google can sniff out a crappy “thin” affiliate a mile away, and even though the average surfer may not be able too just yet, they’re well on their way too.
Ahh I miss the good old days, but can’t help but think about all the new opportunities every time a new algo update ripples through the SERPs.
Sorry, I don’t get how people can say “don’t rely on Google” when they serve 90% of all searches. If you don’t rely on Google, then you’re only looking at 10% of your audience.
While I have spammy sites, I also have sites that are authorities in their niches – both were hit by Penguin (Panda, not so much).
Google hates affiliates – end of discussion.
I am not sure I would throw in the towel just yet.
Panda and Penguin did give many a swift kick in the butt…and Jim Kukral basically shared my story when he said above “I remember the Florida update in 2003. I had over 60 websites at that time, all affiliate sites and I was doing VERY well. Then got smacked overnight and lost 75% of my rankings.”
It hit me in 2 updates.
The first during the Affiliate Summit Cruise in 2004, and the on December 27th during a Christmas break. Google does have a cruel way of timing things.
By the time the dust settled, I had lost 50 sites. It was a kick in the butt for sure. Fortunately, a year earlier I had decided to build another small series of websites that were much higher in quality, many of which I still earn nicely from even today.
And although, I never really knew why at the time, I did sort it out later that that I lost the sites because they didn’t deserve the rankings. They content was thin at best, and much of it was duplicate.
I think the same goes for many affiliates today, and although many have learned to create great content, they fell victim to developing their backlinks and Google rankings using articles directories (Panda), and blog networks (Penguin).
I also agree with Jim when he says “The good news is that you’re ahead of the game and smart and I’m sure have already been diversifying your business and adopting to the change. There is no doubt you’ll be back on top in no time.”
Keep your chin up.
James