Google and qksrv affiliate links

[linkshark]

I don't know if it is cool to post other forum links here so I will leave it unlinked. Very interesting.

http@//www.seochat.com/viewtopic.php?t=628

We are a Commission Junction merchant, and following the latest Google index we are having trouble with a Commission Junction affiliate becoming the recognized URL for our home page

(if I could only get my ebay affiliate link to work like that)

[buckworks]

For a search engine to pick up a redirect link and treat it as the "real" URL is not something new. I've seen affiliate links showing up in search results for as long as I've been paying attention to such things. I've seen it in other search engines besides Google. I've also seen merchant's complain about this before.

I must say it amuses me to see a merchant complaining about "his" rightful clicks being stolen by this ... when the same company tolerates affiliates who use software downloads to accomplish the same thing ...

[nativenewyorker]

Google lists 669,000 affiliate links of the type qksrv.net/click-

Ted

[Chico_Loco]

I think you guys missed the point of the article on SeoChat.

Google is actually retuening the affiliate link as opposed to his URL when you actually search for his URL... This is not the norm!

[buckworks]

I just reread the thread and if he mentioned specifically searching for his URL I missed it. For sure he was upset about the affiliate's referral URL turning up instead of the target URL for several generic search terms.

<<We are used to being #1 on Google for "art supplies" and "art materials," as well as a number of other related search terms.>>

The situation is not uncommon, but it's unusual for it to happen so high in the ranks for such a busy search phrase. I would guess that it's likely the result of several things coming together .... exactly the right anchor text in the link to match the optimization of the page, and the affiliate's site having a strong PR and a strong theme.