Forum Moderators: skibum
Let's say you have a page on snack food.
And somewhere on the page you talk about three specific products: Apples, Bananas and Coconuts.
You have been affiliated to the Coconuts merchant for some time... you didn't really give it much more thought than that - the page is primarily an information page (peripheral to the main topic of your site) and any earnings from Coconut sales were just a bonus. (You would have linked to the Coconut merchant even if there hadn't been an affiliate programme running).
Suddenly, the Apples merchant sets up an affiliate programme. Lordy, the page has turned into an unexpected earner.
Ah, but how to deal with the Bananas merchant?
And a bigger problem is: you know from your stats that your visitors like Bananas the most, then Coconuts, then Apples. Oh, and Bananas are also both better quality and value than the Coconuts and the Apples (perhaps that's why they're more popular).
Do you:
a) Get rid of bananas from the page anyway
b) Re-order the products: Apples, Coconuts, Bananas
c) Keep the original A, B, C order but highlight A and C by putting a border around them or something similar
d) Indicate to your visitors that A and C sponsor your site whereas B doesn't contribute.
e) Keep the original order and information, but just remove the links from Bananas
f) Do nothing
g) Something else?
Which one of these strategies, if any, is going to give you anything at all to bargain with when you contact the Bananas merchant? Let's say he also already has an idea that your visitors like Bananas more than Apples or Coconuts.
