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Affiliate links in content

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

Tuesday, January 25, 2005
19 years ago

This is just a Google Blogoscoped announcement: in future posts, I will not have any affiliate links whatsoever anymore. For a while I've been adding an "[affiliate]" note to those links, but I will discontinue them completely.

I do not think other blogs using affiliate links are "evil", nor did I think my blog was "evil" when I did use those, or that it changed the content I wanted to post, but I do feel it has become a natural step now as the blog and audience grows. I also listened to some criticism that has been voiced in the forum before. I want to go for a very clean separation of content and any kind of sponsorship, and everybody (including people who don't know e.g. Amazon affiliate links) should understand what's happening. It's just even higher transparency, which I find is one of the most valuable thing going on with blogs.

Note this doesn't mean i will never use affiliate links anymore, it just means I will put them in a section clearly labeled as such (e.g. "Sponsored links" to the right contains an affiliate link to VisitorVille – however if in the future I will mention VisitorVille from my blog posts, I will not use the "affiliated" URL).

RC [PersonRank 10]

19 years ago #

You are simply a true-blue bloke (is that a word?).. Nice work, Philipp.

Ezzra [PersonRank 1]

19 years ago #

Good for credibility.
I'd also stay away from any future keyword SEO competitions.

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

19 years ago #

Ezzra, good point.

Ezzra [PersonRank 1]

19 years ago #

Listen, Phil, one final issue in my mind and others that you should address for your customers.

Seems everytime these Visitorville ads show up on your site comes a corresponding big front page write-up. I don't have to remind you of the controversy with Marqui and such.

Just want to know, do you tell your readers when a front-page post is sponsored?

Ezzra

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

19 years ago #

Ezzra, none of my posts *ever* was sponsored. I don't even get money for the VisitorVille ad to the right, I only get affiliate commission if people buy it. It just so happens I choose to advertise what's relevant to my blog, things I came across, and things I love myself. But you're right on one thing – as the VisitorVille ad isn't *sponsored*, I should put it below a different header, like "Affiliate links". Expect to see that happen soon.

Ezzra [PersonRank 1]

19 years ago #

OK, thanks for the clarification. I've been followin ya a while and you're flying high now, but we know that mistakes can easily get ya thrown out of the blogosphere (we had a mutual friend once, Elwyn Jenkins, seen him on line recently?)

Philipp Lenssen [PersonRank 10]

19 years ago #

Elwyn Jenkins was one of the reasons I started this blog in 2003... his Google blog was so interesting. I wonder what happened to him, his web site www.microdoc-news.info simply died from one day to the other, and I never heard of him again (he only briefly reappeared in January 2004, to then turn invisible again).

Ezzra [PersonRank 1]

19 years ago #

Yeah, I'm with you – wonder what happened to the guy? I actually thought you might embarrass me by informing me he's deceased! I now assume he was driven out of blogosphere by all the negative reporting concerning past association with Standard Reserve and corresponding reporting by The Register and Brandt.

Who knows?, but, like you, definitely first got me interested in all that's Google!

Ezzra

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