Can G tell the difference between an Affliate link

VS normal outgoing links?

[sailorjwd]

From what I've been reading it seems that those sites with affiliate links are being caught up in the landing page quality score issue.

I don't have any affiliate links except for single non-landing page that has some amazon book ads.

I do have many links to 'additional info' sites. Some of these sites sell stuff, some have affiliate links and many have neither - such as wikip & microsoft.

So, does and can Google tell the difference between an outgoing affiliate link vs a regular outgoing link?

If so, how?

[nakulgoyal]

I think the answer to this would be a very obvious "yes"

[chrisuk]

You would think not if you use redirects but thats not always possible, however if all your links go to a redirect perhaps that is a flag also. Equally if your landing page contains advertisement text perhaps they can detect that, as presumably the same text appears elsewhere on other sites. Then maybe they weight the ratio of page content vs ad content and look at things like link structure and so on.

Site profiling may also be a factor would would explain why big brands can run all sorts of useless ads.

Its obviously a mixture of things that count.

[QualityNonsense]

At the most basic level, many affiliate links follow the same pattern, such as ending in ref.php?AFFID or similar and redirecting to another URL.

Would be interesting to know what percentage of AdWords revenue comes from the affiliates that Google are doing their level-best to put out of business.

[sailorjwd]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I guess I need to split my site into two separate ones. Landing site with no affs or ads - only services / consulting info and another site for ads with articles and 3rd party product listings.

[RhinoFish]

don't try and disguise or hide your affiliate status, G ain't stupid. try to add value in some way and not be anything like a bridge page. i'm not saying G is perfect, but am saying these issues will continue to plague you as long as you focus on avoiding detection and not on adding value.

[sailorjwd]

i'm not avoiding anything really.

Of 350 pages I have 10 that have an AMZ ad.

Most pages have a single small adsense block.

That's all one needs in order to be f'd.

I've got 100's of links to product/services sites - none affiliate, and I don't make a penny from any.

nuf said.. byebye

[nakulgoyal]

I would say use a redirection system on the AMZ ads.

[sailorjwd]

I'll just remove those amz ads. I make about $5 per month - they aren't there for me they are their for my visitors.... specific books on specific topics.

I'm going out to eat another worm.