Are Affiliates All Washed Up? (Article)

[Catalyst]

Good article from eComm Times regarding how affiliate marketing is healthy and will continue to grow.

The best part comes at the End:

"Now that e-tailers recognize that money likely cannot be made solely from buying keywords on a search engine or increasing traffic, Messner noted, affiliate programs will once again come into the limelight. "

"Affiliate marketing is the backbone of the Web," he said. "It's the unsung hero of e-commerce."

[ecommercetimes.com...]

Linda

[edited by: eljefe3 at 4:43 am (utc) on May 20, 2003]

[jeremy goodrich]

Thanks for the article link, Linda. Some interesting points they make.

[Go60Guy]

Like all aspects of the web, affiliate marketing is in a sate of early evolution. Judging just by the turnout at the informal affiliate breakout group we had at Pubcon in Boston, I would say that interest in affiliate marketing is definitely on the ascent.

When I was at the conference Amazon held last winter for its west coast affiliates, Jeff Bezos was asked where affiliate marketing stood in the Amazon Business Plan. He indicated that next to word of mouth it brought in more new customers by far than anything else.

Merchants who've learned this, and are acting upon it by treating their affiliates right, are reaping the rewards.