Google Affiliate Network on Affiliate Marketing Insider Show Today
Reminder: Today’s special guest on the Affiliate Marketing Insider show will be Chris Henger, Group Product Manager at the new Google Affiliate Network.
“Chris and show host Linda Woods, will discuss what it means for the industry now that Google is in our midst, what’s new for the platform, plans they may be rolling out and Chris’ new role there.”
Catch the show at WebmasterRadio Thursday at Noon Pacific | 3 p.m. Eastern.
#1 Steve wrote on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008:
Google has many plans for affiliate network product. I heard that Google plans on putting Performics direct product on the web. Also, They plan on making changes to monthly miminums pushing many of their affiliates on their direct product and taking away their account team.
#2 Linda Buquet wrote on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008:
Hi Steve, not sure if that is true. There are lots of rumors floating around right now. Guess we will soon see.
#3 K Frierson wrote on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008:
For many years, I felt proud to be a small part of the Google Team, being an affiliate with AdSense. However, last month, out of the blue, my account was suddenly “disabled”. No warning… no heads up. Just dropped. In June, I launched a major advertising campaign trying to generated traffic to capture last min. vacation rentals before the start of the summer season. (ilovevirginiabeach.com and ilovetheouterbanks.com).
Google disabled me for what they considered “invalid clicks” with no specifics. I appealed and provided them with reports to show the clicks were not coming from me, but they still denied my appeal with no explanation.
I’ve been a professional Marketing Manager at the same company for the past 23 years. I’ve also been a license REALTOR for over 20 years and am held to the highest standard of intrigrity and ethical practices. I realize Google is huge and there’s no way they can know everyone on a personal level, which is why they should at least assume all affilates are innocent first. As a manager, I’m constanting on the phone, placing ads and dealing with business owners, sales reps, - all on a one on one basis. I have dealt with hundreds of companies (large and small) and must say, have never encountered this degree of non-communication from any company. An entity as large as Google, one would hope, could provide more personal support -vs- a canned reply to a long-time customer.
If anyone affiliated with Google is reading this, I wish they would please consider the affiliate’s perspective:
1. Please don’t assume everyone is dishonest and trying to cheap the system (clicking PPC ads). Perhaps some are just good marketers - trying to generate business for the advertisers. They shouldn’t be punished… or banished for their good works.
2. Before disabling an affiliate that has been a Google member for many years with no history of invalid clicks or wrong doings, you should at least give them the benefit of the doubt. Give them the consideration of a personal phone call or direct email so they can deal with a support person (one on one). They deserve a little more credit than, say a new affiliate who may be trying to scam the system. Give “old-timers” the chance to correct something they may be doing wrong. They’ve earned a second chance.
3. The most frustrasting thing of all is that Google offered no specific reasons for dropping my account. My suggestion would be to please give your affilliates more feedback. I think this will help keep your company thriving, as it was always been powered by and built on the “Power of the People”.
I was in the process of developing dozens of my sites in the hopes of this being a fulltime job / source of income. I would love to hear back from Google to renew our relationship, but am not hopeful. In the meantime, I’m looking into other ways to generate income, i.e., selling listings on my site(s), increasing my content, etc.
Thanks for listening,
KF