If the affiliates died, would the engines cry?

Over the last few weeks, I've been pondering how online business would change in the event that search engines such as Yahoo continue to crack down on affiliates [labeling them as unwanted material and removing them over time].

Short-term...
1. Adwords & Overture get an uptick in revenues while the larger affiliates with too much exposure to SEM as a percentage of overall revenue generation are forced to increase CPC expenditures to overcompensate for the loss of organic listings.
2. Adsense revenue for Google falls [since most affiliates seem to at least dabble in Adsense].
3. E-mail lists will become more valuable, as a means to reach potential customers.
4. Other forms of online advertising (banners, sponsored links) will increase in demand, and thus likely in price.

Long-term...
1. Small, non-affiliate companies will find it more difficult to compete with the larger, more established companies. These are the companies that seem to benefit the most from intelligent affiliate programs, growing both organically, and via lead/sale generation from their network of "salespeople."
2. The search engines become a place to find non-commerical information AND branded commerical products. Those smaller companies that couldn't compete are driven out of the CPC markets.
3. The user experience for smaller commerical searches declines, as the desired information can't be found.
4. Smart affiliates switch everything to private label, acting entirely as "real" companies -- drop-shipping becomes darling of industry.

Even longer-term...
1. Search engines realize they made a mistake by banning affiliates and modify the rules a bit to allow affiliate content, so long as it makes sense in the context of the searches.

Hopefully I scared at least a few people, because I do feel like the engines will do this, eventually. Diversify where your traffic comes from! At times, I'm just as much at fault as any other SEO, relying too much on that delicious addiction known otherwise as organic listings.

If you have an affiliate site, consider making it more "real"; if all you do is have a banner that acts as a doorway page to a site selling computers, work with that affiliate manager to host modified content on your site, taking the order through a datafeed process directly into their shopping system -- branded affiliates. Next, look at the other forms of online advertising; I'm not an expert on them all, but from the top of my head, you should be looking at newsletters, relevant opt-in lists to expand your own newsletter, banner/link advertising (not for the bloody backlink), writing articles for syndication on other sites...I'm sure there are other many methods, which I hope some of you will respond with.

What next? Well, this is a business, so act like it. Did you know that you can practically make a simple TV commerical without a camera? Build one on the cheap, and test it out on some of the lower priced cable stations. If it works, try your hand at a radio ad, magazine ads, newspaper ads, PR releases, billboards. Just keep moving, be a pesketeer.

By the time you're into the off-line methods, you won't worry so much about Yahoo dumping affiliates and CPC prices jumping through the roof in your niche industry.

Cygnus

Apparently I have to spread rep around before giving you another does, but this is a very well-worded argument. I think you have exposed a truth to the search engines which is that they currently tolerate affiliate content but would probably like to vet it from their indices if possible.

This makes for a very dangerous game in the field of affiliates and large companies, as both are at risk. There are many companies who rely on their affiliates to make them any sales at all, and would be crippled by that loss. There also thousands of people who earn a living operating affiliate companies on the web. This would certainly change the dynamic for many Internet entrepreneurs.

This highlights a key aspect of Internet Marketing vs. Search Marketing. I, personally have always seen Search Marketing as the means to an end - namely a popular website that relies on no one for its traffic - visitors come there day in, day out whether SEs refer them or not. This is the pinnacle of all of our goals, I would expect - to create a site that is profitable and popular no matter what the SEs do.

Good work on this post Cygnus.

Yes, IM versus SEM, but how does one start on that right off the bat? SEM is like easy money, tough to turn away when it is as easy as it is (after you learn it and fail a few times of course).

How can we get people into other IM avenues, in the event that the means to an end becomes a dead end? SEOchat would dry up pretty quickly if the engines do this.

Cygnus

This is well said and something I have turned to in just the last 18 months.
I can put a classified ad in 12 newspapers in 7 states for $500 or less reaching a viewing audience of 2.2 million. Try not to publish in major papers...look to the free papers for better ad rates (shopper, penny, nickel papers).

Radio is a great way to pull clients in to sites. Be careful how you approach this...less is better with a focus on web-address only. $15,000 will go a long way in reaching a major try-state area.

Billboards, in key cites is a phenomenal way of getting traffic. Prices range from $400 - $2500 per month depending on location. I try to get package deals on boards to help lower cost.

Just some of the ways I keep my clients happy.

D

Bigdoug, that is exactly what I want to see SEOs doing; diversifying their traffic, and their expertise. Becoming Internet marketing experts is a great start, with total marketing experts being the goal.

If tha that happens with the major search engines, smaller engines that do use affiliates for SERps will rise to the top...

Great follow up point Cygnus. Too many agencies are still turning their nose up at Internet Marketing firms. Some are taking internet marketing in house, but most still prefer to work just with traditional medias. With podcasting and internet TV shows increasing in exposure and popularity, traditional media will soon bring in less ROI and reach vs. internet marketing.

I'm not so sure of this; while it sounds nice, the tipping point is getting more and more out of reach for the smaller engines.

like BigDoug...we too sometimes turn to the print media for traffic. for instance we're launching a new dotnetnuke niche hosting environment, and have advertised in local "alternative" and "free" papers about that opportunity...which yes, has brought us some great "early adopter" traffic and enabled us to get up and running!

personally, I think that print media works but not all at once...it's the little "virus" that you put in a reader's brain, that eventually will become "top-of-mind" and then turn that reader into a user.......works for us!

:-)

Jim

Keep writing and posting more stuff cygnus becuse this is getting interesting.
Tell us what you consider search SEM as apposed to search engine marketing.

Could start a checklist of what you think people should be doing rather than just focusing on the search engines.

When writing a classified ad only use 2 sentences and make the web address bold.
Example of what first sentence should say, witch we will call a 1 second greeting:

1) 5000 tools under $20 – major clearance!

Second sentence should be your closing marker that would lead to sale:
2) Only 5 days left www.toools.com/sale

5000 tools under $20 – major clearance
Only 5 days left www.toools.com/sale

When using print media it is very important when trying to create a sale or to have someone visit your site follow this very important rule; I cannot stress this rule enough and I am giving you a heads up with my 18 years of sales experience; The rule is this:

You must create a fear of loss in client to have them immediately go online and visit your site. With no fear of loss you are wasting your time advertising. Remember, Fear of loss! Fear of loss! I have taught this to many students in my sales meetings.

Now you have him or her without performing any SEO bribes for organic search or any Adwords or link buying bills to achieve traffic.

I will tell you about billboards and radio later.

D