I got word from several affiliate marketers that Google dropped the hammer today on affiliate review pages.     Many pages went from quality scores of 10 —> 1 overnight.

And these were NOT skinny sites, rather well build out, consistently updated blogs with good navigation above the fold, xml site maps, high click through, hyper-relevant keyword mapping, low bounce rates, long average time on page   … everything else Google loves.

When we analyzed which pages survived, and we take it in combination with other information, it seems pretty clear they’ve added code which screens for affiliate links on the landing pages.

At the moment it seems cloaking and PHP redirects are untouched, … but I can’t imagine these are far behind.   (I’m guessing they’re just avoiding this in order to decrease their server burden … takes some CPU cycles to visit every link on the page and evaluate for affiliate code)

I’d say it’s safe to conclude Google’s on the war path against affiliate review sites, and we should be advising clients towards a different business model… at minimum it seems necessary to avoid placing affiliate links on landing pages, but ideally, I think people need to move towards a deeper list building/relationship building strategy and/or a strong e-commerce model.

Time to stop “building on sand”.

Glenn

Many affiliates make their living creating product review sites.

Many product review sites are trash.

Many times the affiliates don’t even own the product and it’s a big pump and dump.

Savvy web surfers quickly recognize these sites and don’t trust their advice. Worse yet, it tarnishes the reputation of even a good product, because it’s cheesy and sleazy.

Google is on a mission to stamp out the “me-too rug-merchants” of the affiliate world and only   give credence to quality advertisers who build their own personality and reputation and content.

If your identity on the Internet is merely borrowed from other people, you’re headed for extinction.

I’ve been saying this for 5 years, by the way.

In the $97 edition of the Definitive Guide to Google AdWords there’s a classic, must-listen MP3 for affiliates called “Jet Fuel for Google Cash.” In that MP3 I define a path for moving from “me-too” affiliate to full-fledged e-commerce vendor with a strong identity and sound reputation. It’s just as valid today as it was the day I recorded it.

Dude, if you’re an affiliate, you’d better add value to the equation, and FAST, because just squeezing yourself into the middle of transactions is getting harder by the month.

And… there’s a larger point to be made here:

The Internet used to be some fringe phenomenon where only geeks, social rejects and vagabonds hung out.

That was, maybe, 10 years ago. (Which is probably why I liked it so much.)

Now it’s center stage of the world.

Which means the Internet is no longer an easy place for digital vermin to make a quick buck. Online you need to demonstrate substance. This is what Google now expects of you.

Sorry… this is no ‘get rich quick’ notice. Instead I’m serving a warning: “If you’re looking for get rich quick, go somewhere else. Google doesn’t want your money.”

However – this is GOOD news for everyone else. If you’re an original voice, it just got that much easier to be heard in the sea of noise that’s out there.

IF YOU ARE AN AFFILIATE – here is my advice to you:

You need to take control of the sale. Now.

At the very least you need to be in control of the entire conversation.

Fact: Google doesn’t like affiliate links all that much. They don’t like anyone who’s doing “me too.”

Fortunately it’s possible to be a “Value Added Affiliate” who adds a unique contribution to the product of whatever person you are promoting.

It’s also possible to take complete control of the conversation. Build an email list.

What if you…

-Directed Google ads to a content rich website
-Followed up with email and autoresponders
-Closed the sale with a killer teleseminar – just like Michael Cage taught us how to do a couple of weeks ago?

Nice recipe for success, methinks. Come to think of it, what I do isn’t all that terribly different.

People appreciate quality content and so does Google. Give ‘em what they want and you’ll get plenty of airtime.

Perry Marshall

(Again, special thanks to Glenn Livingston for shaking down the data and bringing it to my attention.)