ReveNews Online Revenue News & Opinions Since 1998

Collateral Damage and A Voice for Affiliates

I am sure that many of you have heard about the highly controversial panel that took place at SES San Jose on “Search Arbitrage” issues. If you haven’t, let me paint a quick picture of the scene and the players involved:

The panel was made up of a fairly even split between experts voicing the pros and cons of various approaches to the highly misunderstood term “Arbitrage.” Leading the way for the anti-arbitrage contingency was of course, the Director of Google Adsense, Kim Malone. Leading the way for the more enlightened view was Pepperjam CEO, Kristopher Jones, who echoed the collective voice of PPC affiliates who represent the collateral damage of Google’s latest landing page quality score update.

As you might guess, Malone toed the corporate line, and offered very little in way of details concerning Google’s approach to, and enforcement of, this new barrier to PPC affiliate success. Jones attacked Malone on Google’s seemingly arbitrary application of the new twist, and in doing so raised some of the most important questions that affiliates should be firing at Google with the veracity of a money hungry blog spammer:

What about the sophisticated affiliates who have been unfairly grouped in with blatant creators of endless circular click arbitrage schemes? Has Google not considered that the use of select affiliates by e-commerce merchants is one of the most effective and cutting edge ways to approach the ever more saturated PPC space? Is this yet another move by Google along an unwavering path toward full affiliate exclusion? If Google is so concerned with user experience, why would the minimum CPC’s be jacked up to 5 or 10 bucks instead of complete removal of the listings? Isn’t that incredibly hypocritical?

Anyway, it was a “hot” panel and one that addressed issues that everyone in the search and affiliate space should closely monitor. I argue that Jones provided a much needed voice for the severely underrepresented affiliates. This is a voice that is sorely lacking in light of Google’s expanding dominance where sophisticated, entrepreneurial affiliates are left behind in a growing wake of collateral damage.

Check out more about this panel and these issues in Catherine Seda’s latest entry at Search Engine Watch and Kristopher Jones’ latest entry on pepperjamBLOG.

For a different perspective on the panel and issue, check out Shoemoney’s blog (with reaction from Danny Sullivan himself).

Search Through 10 Years of ReveNews Content:

• We Support New York Affiliates

  

• Subscribe to ReveNews

  • Get ReveNews Updates in Your Reader
  • Get ReveNews Updates in Your Email

• The Latest Comments

  • Angel Djambazov on NASA Invites You Along for the Ride
  • Dave Delaney on Photos and Favorite Moments from Gnomedex 2008
  • Affiliate Commission Blueprint on Affiliate Marketing Success Stories and Heroes
  • pup on Deep Packet Injection = Trademark Infringement
  • Brett Thunderdog Harwood on Ask The Online Gurus: Can MySpace Make Money?
  • Private Individual on Deep Packet Injection = Trademark Infringement
  • Greg Sack on Answer Yes. Comerixa has faltered.
  • Pat Grady on NASA Invites You Along for the Ride
  • Celeste Bennett on Altered Vision: Salaam Garage gives voice to positive content on developing nations
  • Pat Grady on Altered Vision: Salaam Garage gives voice to positive content on developing nations

• ReveNews Readers

• Archives

  Select Month August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004

• ScratchBack Widget