Catalyst - 5:17 pm on May 26, 2006 (gmt 0)

Yep. Even Matt said at WebmasterWorld in Nov that G does not have a problem with affiliate sites or links per se, just low quality sites that are nothing but links and add no value to the consumer.

However I don't think CJ would make this drastic of a change that will create so much work for affiliates merchant and CJ just to eliminate the crappy affiliate link farm type sites. IMO link farm sites don't generate much in terms of traffic anyway, much less clicks or revenue - so a lot of affiliates that just put up a ton of banners won't make any money and will drop out or be dumped by CJ anyway. Although since most affiliates that launch link farm sites probably arent very good at getting natural rankings, they may be more likely to do tricks for clicks I suppose.

Molander says today that this is in effect CJ's attempt to rid the network of Mom & Pop type affiliates. I think that's a load! Some of the best affiliates I know are Mom & Pop type affiliates and they spend lots of time creating quality content that adds value. I think the large number of good Mom & Pop type affiliates is one of CJ's biggest advantages to merchants.

Linda

[edited by: eljefe3 at 4:00 am (utc) on May 31, 2006]