Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi
This is about Google and affiliate marketing. I will explain some details of the issue before I present it. I have screen shots and other facts to support this posting but I do not want to share them here for reason that will become obvious as you read this.
First let me say the manufacturer of the product that is affiliate marketed has always let the affiliates do the marketing. The manufacturer recently added direct sales to its web site. They still allowed the affiliates to do the marketing and did not compete in the search engine market place with affiliates. In fact, they sell the product at the same price as the affiliates. They have the right to change any of that but that is not what this is about. They are a billion dollar company and I am one of their top 10 producers.
That said, I have a site that has been 1 on Google in several keywords since 1998. The keyword is not a trademark or product name of the manufacturer. The web site adds value to the customer and offers a couple of other choices from other manufacturers. Our site is highly ranked and has a good reputation. It has deep content of value to the customer. We follow all of Google's guidelines and rules.
Now let me explain what I want to discuss with you.
Google changed the order of many of "our" keyword results right after labor day at the beginning of holiday buying season. They inserted the manufacturer of the products into position 1 in all keyword catagories used by all of their affiliates including me. They moved me to number 6 in my keyowrd search results. This happened overnight.
My #1 listings at MSN were not affected. Yahoo followed Google's lead a couple of weeks later but only demoted me to 2nd place.
There is a second issue. Google changed the keyword bid prices at the same time as the search results shuffle. This was before the recent Adword quality ranking that drives keyword prices up for poorly rated link farm affiliate sites.
The manufacturer affiliate network has 60,000 members worldwide. Many of them are not fortunate to have first place listings in Google and have to use PPC. When the manufacturer moved to number 1 in all affiliate keyword catagories Google also increased the price to bid on the same keywords. The price was increased above a price you can pay to have a profit margin with the manufacturer's products. Remember I have high quality sites; even though we do not use PPC I checked the keywords and they were high for us also. All affiliates - good sites or bad - had very high keyword minimum bids. Some as high as TEN DOLLARS per click on a 7.00 commission product. Why did keyword prices skyrocket at the same time as the search results shuffle?
We were all effectivly cut out of the holiday buying season. I did not have it as bad as others who rely on PPC but my income was reduced by 50%. Many affiliates tried the higher bid prices but were not able to make a living that way.
This type of behavior could be interpeted as evidence that Google is manipulating search results to help certain companies sell products. Does Google want to be the Sears and Robuck catalogue for the world? Are they doctoring the search results to second guess what you are looking for and offering a product you MIGHT be looking for. If so, we need to make them admit it so the public will know what to expect when using Google.
Google and the manufacturer of the products in question have a responsibility to their stockholders to make the most profit they can muster. Did Google cross the line and manipulate search results? This will harm the stockholders if their reputation is tarnished.
Have any of you experienced a similar situation during the recent holiday buying season from labor day to christmas? No conspiracy theories please. Just the facts.
Seasons greeting to you all,
trotline
This makes them look like organic results ..they shoold be in the blue ..or on the right ..and the new placement is dishonest and deliberately misleading ..
And the Google PR people here do not want to reply to that ..or post as Adam just did that it isnt happening ..spin and obfuscation has descended into dishonesty and lies ..
That said ..
Sorry trotline ..but you are not a retailer ..
Retailers keep physical inventory ..they invest in stock of the products that they sell ( even if when they get bigger they sometimes pay their suppliers long after they have actually sold the goods ..especially the big guys like walmart etc ) ..but retailers keep stock on shelves ..they buy with the left hand ..and then they try to sell what they just bought ..bigger ones are called wholsalers or distributors ..whatever ..they still buy stock and resell it later ..
but you dont keep physical inventory ..and if you are selling software ..your model isnt that you purchase upfront and then markup before allowing your visitors to download ..you've said ..you pass the client along ..
so that makes you a simple affiliate ..( like RedWolf says ) ..and as such your advice is not unbiased ..and you have no responsibilities to the customer ..Where I am many aff sites exist to "compare" the DSL suppliers ..not one mentions how they are all crap , expensive and have lousy hotlines etc ..If I used them to click through they'd get half of my payment for having put little more than the DSL ISP's spec sheets infront of me on the same page in tabular form ..
they get their money by providing a sanitized comparison of services or goods for the lazy or for incompetent searchers ..of which there are many ..
I have no problem with affs ..but never knowingly use them ..why go through a middleman "comparing" when I can get to the meat ..and get aftersales service too :)
many people have built their businesses around being affs ..but any manufacturer once they have brand identification is going to try to cut you out ..beleiving otherwise is naive ..margins are thinner ..you are a cost they no longer need ..and going around you costs less than altering production , outsourcing or laying of salaried workers ..thats how they look at it ..
thats not unfair ..thats business ..your solution ..buy their product at wholesale ..and truly retail it ..otherwise they owe you nothing ..
Google on the other hand is clearly deciding that long term they can make more money by removing the affiliates and working direct with the manufacturers etc ( what they do with ebay is an exception to this ..and the two businesses are not competing ..and for most searchers ebays ad inventory is as seen as being as good and as relevent as anyone elses ad ) ..and joe jane sixpack dont mind the bay ads ..they like to hunt "bargains" via google ..google know this :)
If you are an affiliate ..now it is the dominant search engine ..inspite of what it or it's reps say Googel no longer wants you nor needs you ..and gradual removal of you is a source of increased revenue for it ..their adwords people would rather deal with the manufacturur direct ..
My gripe with google is just that they are not being honest about this mixing ads and organic without distinguishing the ads from the organic .
edited to add ..sorry trotline ..it's not everyone being difficult with you :)..it's your insistance that you are a just the same as a retailer ..and that somehow what retailers do and what affs do is the same ..it isnt ..manufacturers dont just "dump" retailers because it is not in their interest ..
they do just dump affs ..look at online insurers ( the company themselves going direct to the consumer ) as against what was the previous model ..insurance agent / broker on mainstreet selling for the company and making their comission ..
the insurance agencies went online just as soon as they could ..and cut out the affs ..
but you still have to buy your newpaper from the guy on the corner ..not direct from the printer ..thats cos the guy with the corner stand is a retailer ..he keeps all the papers ..whovever printed them ..and he took a risk and paid upfront to have that choice of stock to sell you ..he is not an affiliate ..
Most of us can see the difference ..
[edited by: Leosghost at 1:21 pm (utc) on Dec. 28, 2006]
We're a retailer who deals with hundreds of manufacturers. If they decide to enter the market and sell direct, unless they're selling at list price, we drop them.
Then google throws the ecommerce sector a bone with google checkout.
