StuWhite - 3:25 pm on Dec 11, 2006 (gmt 0)

>>>A. To obtain pagerank from affiliates
>>And what compensation is offered to them for this *link development service*?

The compensation is built into the commission. Because affiliates help with PR, I don't need to spend as much money on other link development projects so I can afford to give more to my affiliates (who are welcome to opt out). I barely break even on sales made through my top tier affiliates.

>>>I don't believe I have a duty to keep the pagerank of my own site low so that potential customers can't find my site through a search engine

>>And not a single person here suggested that you should do that. What we argue is that you need to do your own work, not scrape the whipped cream off the top of ours until you have a shake.

Affiliates send me PR without me asking for it. All I do is ensure that the PR is moved around my site and put it to best use. They are throwing cream at me, I'm not scraping it off.

>>>Let's face it, how many affiliates are 100% 'ethical' anyway?
>>>Company ABC actually offers better widgets at a cheaper price but we don't link to them because they don't have an affiliate scheme.

>>That is such a broad, irresponsible and assumptive statement to make. So, are all television stations unethical as well by only showing the paying advertisers' commercials?

Most people know that TV commercials are paid for and do not represent an unbiased recommendation by the TV company.

Many affiliate sites imply (or state outright) that they are recommending the products of the merchants that they link to. The average Joe does not know that these sites are getting a financial kickback.