Google Guidelines Define Affiliate Sites as Spam - GoFuckYourself.com

Bladewire · 10-26-2011, 01:04 PM

Specifically "thin" affiliate sites:

5.1 Thin Affiliates

A thin affiliate is a website that earns money from affiliate commissions. It exists only to make money. The spammer shows content from other ?real? merchant sites, such as Amazon or eBay, or a good hotel or travel website. When users click on links to buy products or make reservations, they are redirected to the ?real? merchant page.

The thin affiliate offers no additional information and does not try to help users. This is a moneymaking spam technique. [SOURCE] Page 105

Do any affiliates here plan to change their site strategy based on these guidelines?

.

_Richard_ · 10-26-2011, 01:06 PM

wouldn't that apply to googles adwords as well?

crockett · 10-26-2011, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Richard_

wouldn't that apply to googles adwords as well?

Of course not because that is spam that makes google money..Google is ok with leeching everyone else s content to make money on, but if you leech from google in return it's different rules apparently.

#OccupyGoogle

PR_Glen · 10-26-2011, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Richard_

wouldn't that apply to googles adwords as well?

you really think they will keep it a level playing field?

FlexxAeon · 10-26-2011, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squirtit

Do any affiliates here plan to change their site strategy based on these guidelines?

already have

_Richard_ · 10-26-2011, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PR_Glen

you really think they will keep it a level playing field?

wouldn't that be an anti-trust issue? Even on a national level i can imagine it would irk a few people.. but at an international level couldn't that actually cause tensions?

96ukssob · 10-26-2011, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Richard_

wouldn't that apply to googles adwords as well?

Google Adsense, YES

I think this goes back to when they banned the made for adsense sites. they are trying to get rid of the actual spam with no content or no value to the user.

if you have a review site, im sure its not the same

RyuLion · 10-26-2011, 01:17 PM

Google can put anything in their rules..its their site..

Markul · 10-26-2011, 01:17 PM

I notice more and more people I meet saying that Google is becoming really "poor". These are regular internet users.

The market is opening up for new engines. Google is rapidly becoming a place where spammers and content thieves get to the top.

I guess time will tell.

seeandsee · 10-26-2011, 01:19 PM

google is top notch for search, if you dont like it, use Bing and yahoo :D

BlackCrayon · 10-26-2011, 01:19 PM

it makes google's search engine sound like spam by their own definition. they are just displaying others content in their search results.

Klen · 10-26-2011, 01:23 PM

That's kind a funny since i am sure almost all websites exist to make money,having a good content is just subproduct

Bladewire · 10-26-2011, 01:28 PM

5.1.1 Recognizing Thin Affiliates

To help determine if a page is a thin affiliate, you can do the following:

Click buttons on the page. Click on a ?More Information? or ?Make a Purchase? button. If you are taken to a merchant on a different domain, it is probably a thin affiliate. You will not be able to make the purchase on the affiliate webpage.
Check properties of images on the page. Right-click on an image on the page with your mouse and look at ?Properties? to see where the image originates. Check to see if the address of the image is the same as the address of the page or if it is the address of a ?real? merchant? Look for original content on the page. Affiliate pages that include original content in addition to the affiliate link are not spam
Look at the domain registrants. If clicking a button takes you to another page, check to see ?who is? the registrant (or owner) of the two domains. If the registrant is the same, the page is not a thin affiliate. Please follow the instructions for checking whose in Section 3.3.1.

[source] Page 105

Barefootsies · 10-26-2011, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squirtit

Google Guidelines Define Affiliate Sites as Spam

They are not the only one's....

O MARINA · 10-26-2011, 01:32 PM

There is no money in SEO.

FlowerKid · 10-26-2011, 01:36 PM

It's about time to shut down the Google.

2intense · 10-26-2011, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markul

I notice more and more people I meet saying that Google is becoming really "poor". These are regular internet users.

The market is opening up for new engines. Google is rapidly becoming a place where spammers and content thieves get to the top.

I guess time will tell.

It seems that you are frustrated

FlexxAeon · 10-26-2011, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squirtit

Check properties of images on the page. Right-click on an image on the page with your mouse and look at ?Properties? to see where the image originates. Check to see if the address of the image is the same as the address of the page or if it is the address of a ?real? merchant? Look for original content on the page. Affiliate pages that include original content in addition to the affiliate link are not spam

always seen this as a potential 'red flag' and have stayed away from using sponsor feeds partially because of this

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squirtit

Look at the domain registrants. If clicking a button takes you to another page, check to see ?who is? the registrant (or owner) of the two domains. If the registrant is the same, the page is not a thin affiliate. Please follow the instructions for checking whose in Section 3.3.1.

sure hope they don't use this logic in the algo (i think they said it doesn't factor in...?)

u-Bob · 10-26-2011, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markul

I notice more and more people I meet saying that Google is becoming really "poor". These are regular internet users.

The quality of their results went downhill when they stopped showing results for what users were looking for and started returning results for what Google thinks the user was looking for.

Paul&John · 10-26-2011, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squirtit

[*]Check properties of images on the page. Right-click on an image on the page with your mouse and look at ?Properties? to see where the image originates. Check to see if the address of the image is the same as the address of the page or if it is the address of a ?real? merchant? Look for original content on the page. Affiliate pages that include original content in addition to the affiliate link are not spam

If using RSS make sure to 'cache' (copy) the images to your server

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squirtit

[*]Look at the domain registrants. If clicking a button takes you to another page, check to see ?who is? the registrant (or owner) of the two domains. If the registrant is the same, the page is not a thin affiliate. Please follow the instructions for checking whose in Section 3.3.1.

Do these reviewers get access to google resources, meaning they can check private whois data also?

Btw according this info they just want to wipe out the copy&paste affiliates.. so you are good to go if you have unique content..

cherrylula · 10-26-2011, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crockett

Of course not because that is spam that makes google money..Google is ok with leeching everyone else s content to make money on, but if you leech from google in return it's different rules apparently.

#OccupyGoogle

yeah they've been the largest image thief forever, lol google.

e-god · 10-26-2011, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squirtit

5.1.1 Recognizing Thin Affiliates

To help determine if a page is a thin affiliate, you can do the following:

Click buttons on the page. Click on a ?More Information? or ?Make a Purchase? button. If you are taken to a merchant on a different domain, it is probably a thin affiliate. You will not be able to make the purchase on the affiliate webpage.
Check properties of images on the page. Right-click on an image on the page with your mouse and look at ?Properties? to see where the image originates. Check to see if the address of the image is the same as the address of the page or if it is the address of a ?real? merchant? Look for original content on the page. Affiliate pages that include original content in addition to the affiliate link are not spam
Look at the domain registrants. If clicking a button takes you to another page, check to see ?who is? the registrant (or owner) of the two domains. If the registrant is the same, the page is not a thin affiliate. Please follow the instructions for checking whose in Section 3.3.1.

[source] Page 105

Affiliate pages that include original content in addition to the affiliate link are not spam - that sentence is the most important.

However, current google serps shows a lot of spam pages and that whole Panda update is ridiculous

Robbie · 10-26-2011, 01:56 PM

Is "defining" an affiliate site the same as Google saying they are going to rank it lower?

Sounds more like they are targeting the equivalent of a banner farm. Not a site like FreeOnes that offers so much more like bios, forums, etc.

digitalfantasies · 10-26-2011, 02:00 PM

I understand that sites that mainly use promotools (banners, iframes, white labels etc) are spam...

sites that actually add something to users, have unique quality content that also makes sense should be ok....

the problem could be...the thin red line... so in some cases you have to lucky that your site is labeled as "useful"

In the meantime I see my "useful" sites drop and my "spam" sites emerge??? That doesn't make sense now does it???

FlexxAeon · 10-26-2011, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul&John

If using RSS make sure to 'cache' (copy) the images to your server

.

there's a WP plugin for that too, people

Paul&John · 10-26-2011, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlexxAeon

there's a WP plugin for that too, people

RSS Feed plugins usually have the option for caching images.

V_RocKs · 10-26-2011, 04:58 PM

This is talking about pages with markov text and some images, usually hotlinked, that are just there to get Google bot to give them an automatic position... Then a manual reviewer comes in and sees that the page has no unique review information... no story or nothing...

InfoGuy · 10-26-2011, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul&John

If using RSS make sure to 'cache' (copy) the images to your server

Do these reviewers get access to google resources, meaning they can check private whois data also?

Btw according this info they just want to wipe out the copy&paste affiliates.. so you are good to go if you have unique content..

Private WHOIS records are only available to you, your registrar and anyone who pries that info from your registrar via legal means, such as court order or lawyer intimidation. If your WHOIS data was public before you chose to go private and someone cached that data, then you are SOL.

porno jew · 10-26-2011, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u-Bob

The quality of their results went downhill when they stopped showing results for what users were looking for and started returning results for what Google thinks the user was looking for.

yes there should be a good study or academic paper on how google's quality guidelines are shaping the content of the net.

porno jew · 10-26-2011, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InfoGuy

Private WHOIS records are only available to you, your registrar and anyone who pries that info from your registrar via legal means, such as court order or lawyer intimidation. If your WHOIS data was public before you chose to go private and someone cached that data, then you are SOL.

google is a registrar, has access to that information.

InfoGuy · 10-26-2011, 08:53 PM

I wouldn't be surprised if Google had some other criteria to confirm or deny whether a site should be classified as spam. For example, if Google's stats showed there were X number or Y percentage of users that stayed K number of minutes on a site or viewed Q number of pages, then the site is useful to those people.

InfoGuy · 10-26-2011, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porno jew

google is a registrar, has access to that information.

Wrong, it's proprietary data for each registrar and not shared between all registars.

ErectMedia · 10-26-2011, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squirtit

Specifically "thin" affiliate sites:

5.1 Thin Affiliates

A thin affiliate is a website that earns money from affiliate commissions. It exists only to make money. The spammer shows content from other “real” merchant sites, such as Amazon or eBay, or a good hotel or travel website. When users click on links to buy products or make reservations, they are redirected to the “real” merchant page.

The thin affiliate offers no additional information and does not try to help users. This is a moneymaking spam technique. [SOURCE] Page 105

Do any affiliates here plan to change their site strategy based on these guidelines?

.

If you're trying to make it with thin affiliate sites on random domains may work short term but eventually fade out of results. If running these on great descriptive .com domains will work better as generic keyword .coms have natural traffic so search results don't matter as much.

AzteK · 10-26-2011, 09:00 PM

This is a fantastic document. Where did you come across this?

raymor · 10-26-2011, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Richard_

wouldn't that apply to googles adwords as well?

Yes, a page with nothing but Google ads will be penalized. Google wants to see something on a page other than ads.

PB-Jim · 10-26-2011, 09:46 PM

You guys shouldn't be surprised by this. Google makes more money from corporations than affiliates. It should be of no surprise that they are transitioning to showing them more attention while packing their own pockets.

We are going to need a new search engine in the next few years. Google is crossing the line in a lot of places. Time for someone new to step in and take a small chunk of the pie.

raymor · 10-26-2011, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackCrayon

it makes google's search engine sound like spam by their own definition. they are just displaying others content in their search results.

To meet tbeir definition, it must be a site which adds no value. I find Google very valuable. Notice too their definition is a page with nothing but affiliate links out. If I open Google.com, I see NO links out at all. If I run a search, a get appropriate links, but they are not affiliate links.

epitome · 10-26-2011, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PB-Jim

You guys shouldn't be surprised by this. Google makes more money from corporations than affiliates. It should be of no surprise that they are transitioning to showing them more attention while packing their own pockets.

We are going to need a new search engine in the next few years. Google is crossing the line in a lot of places. Time for someone new to step in and take a small chunk of the pie.

Many surfers don't know there is a problem. Hell tons of people still type domains in the google search box because that is how they think the internet works.

There are people out there that can build a better search engine. At this point the real challenge would be getting people to use it.

Google is the Microsoft of the Internet.

Edit: only real chance at it is if Facebook does it. Wouldn't surprise me if they're working on it.

porno jew · 10-26-2011, 09:57 PM

facebook will never create a search engine. they have their own alternate way of sharing, sorting and discovering information by recommendation, which google is trying to copy and integrate.

epitome · 10-26-2011, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porno jew

facebook will never create a search engine. they have their own alternate way of sharing, sorting and discovering information by recommendation, which google is trying to copy and integrate.

I am just being facetious but wtf is that search bar thing on top of every FB page then and how does it operate?

porno jew · 10-26-2011, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by epitome

I am just being facetious but wtf is that search bar thing on top of every FB page then and how does it operate?

yes there is a search but like i said fb mainly organizes it's data not by search results but affinity.

wallofiron · 10-26-2011, 11:00 PM

I can prove google loves brand new affiliate sites with duplicate content and spammy blog comments from asian tlds

Bladewire · 10-31-2011, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PB-Jim

You guys shouldn't be surprised by this. Google makes more money from corporations than affiliates. It should be of no surprise that they are transitioning to showing them more attention while packing their own pockets.

We are going to need a new search engine in the next few years. Google is crossing the line in a lot of places. Time for someone new to step in and take a small chunk of the pie.

This is true. Think about this. Penalizing affiliate sites should increase revenue for Google AdWords. The less traffic that goes to the middle man, the less power they have, and businesses go direct to Google for traffic via AdWords.

u-Bob · 10-31-2011, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porno jew

google is a registrar, has access to that information.

Incorrect. Being a registrar gives them access to whois info in bulk. It does not give them access to the info 'behind whois privacy services'.

CyberHustler · 10-31-2011, 06:20 PM

is there something like this yet? ----> sponsors supply affiliates with a code they can put on their own sites, almost like a paypal "paynow" type of button but for surfers to make actual purchases on affiliates site. wouldn't that increase signups too?

10-26-2011, 01:04 PM	#1
Bladewire StraightBro Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Monarch Beach, CA USA Posts: 56,229	Google Guidelines Define Affiliate Sites as Spam Specifically "thin" affiliate sites: 5.1 Thin Affiliates A thin affiliate is a website that earns money from affiliate commissions. It exists only to make money. The spammer shows content from other ?real? merchant sites, such as Amazon or eBay, or a good hotel or travel website. When users click on links to buy products or make reservations, they are redirected to the ?real? merchant page. The thin affiliate offers no additional information and does not try to help users. This is a moneymaking spam technique. [SOURCE] Page 105 Do any affiliates here plan to change their site strategy based on these guidelines? . __________________ Skype: CallTomNow

10-26-2011, 01:17 PM	#8
RyuLion ClubDomCash.com Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: San Diego Posts: 32,239	Google can put anything in their rules..its their site.. __________________ Adult Biz Consultant A tech head since 1995

10-26-2011, 01:19 PM	#10
seeandsee Check SIG! Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Europe (Skype: gojkoas) Posts: 50,945	google is top notch for search, if you dont like it, use Bing and yahoo :D __________________ BUY MY SIG - 50$/Year Contact here

10-26-2011, 01:19 PM	#11
BlackCrayon Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Ottawa Posts: 19,631	it makes google's search engine sound like spam by their own definition. they are just displaying others content in their search results. __________________ you don't know you're wearing a leash if you sit by the peg all day..

10-26-2011, 01:28 PM	#13
Bladewire StraightBro Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Monarch Beach, CA USA Posts: 56,229	5.1.1 Recognizing Thin Affiliates To help determine if a page is a thin affiliate, you can do the following: Click buttons on the page. Click on a ?More Information? or ?Make a Purchase? button. If you are taken to a merchant on a different domain, it is probably a thin affiliate. You will not be able to make the purchase on the affiliate webpage. Check properties of images on the page. Right-click on an image on the page with your mouse and look at ?Properties? to see where the image originates. Check to see if the address of the image is the same as the address of the page or if it is the address of a ?real? merchant? Look for original content on the page. Affiliate pages that include original content in addition to the affiliate link are not spam Look at the domain registrants. If clicking a button takes you to another page, check to see ?who is? the registrant (or owner) of the two domains. If the registrant is the same, the page is not a thin affiliate. Please follow the instructions for checking whose in Section 3.3.1. [source] Page 105 __________________ Skype: CallTomNow

10-26-2011, 01:06 PM	#2
_Richard_ Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Earth Posts: 30,989	wouldn't that apply to googles adwords as well?

10-26-2011, 01:17 PM	#9
Markul Likes Pie Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: The land that liberated porn Posts: 12,401	I notice more and more people I meet saying that Google is becoming really "poor". These are regular internet users. The market is opening up for new engines. Google is rapidly becoming a place where spammers and content thieves get to the top. I guess time will tell.

10-26-2011, 01:23 PM	#12
Klen Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Little Vienna Posts: 32,235	That's kind a funny since i am sure almost all websites exist to make money,having a good content is just subproduct

10-26-2011, 01:32 PM	#15
O MARINA I'm clockin' ya, Versace shade watchin' ya Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: internet Posts: 13,795	There is no money in SEO.

10-26-2011, 01:36 PM	#16
FlowerKid Confirmed User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Zurich Posts: 1,045	It's about time to shut down the Google. __________________

10-26-2011, 01:56 PM	#23
Robbie Leaner, Meaner, Faster Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Vegas Posts: 20,959	Is "defining" an affiliate site the same as Google saying they are going to rank it lower? Sounds more like they are targeting the equivalent of a banner farm. Not a site like FreeOnes that offers so much more like bios, forums, etc. __________________ -Robbie ClaudiaMarie.Com

10-26-2011, 02:00 PM	#24
digitalfantasies Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Caribbean Posts: 2,692	I understand that sites that mainly use promotools (banners, iframes, white labels etc) are spam... sites that actually add something to users, have unique quality content that also makes sense should be ok.... the problem could be...the thin red line... so in some cases you have to lucky that your site is labeled as "useful" In the meantime I see my "useful" sites drop and my "spam" sites emerge??? That doesn't make sense now does it??? __________________

10-26-2011, 04:58 PM	#27
V_RocKs Damn Right I Kiss Ass! Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Cowtown, USA Posts: 32,409	This is talking about pages with markov text and some images, usually hotlinked, that are just there to get Google bot to give them an automatic position... Then a manual reviewer comes in and sees that the page has no unique review information... no story or nothing...

10-26-2011, 08:53 PM	#31
InfoGuy 80/20 Rule Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 3,051	I wouldn't be surprised if Google had some other criteria to confirm or deny whether a site should be classified as spam. For example, if Google's stats showed there were X number or Y percentage of users that stayed K number of minutes on a site or viewed Q number of pages, then the site is useful to those people. __________________ Support American Heroes \| How Bad is My Batch? \| Vaccine Deaths & Adverse Reactions \| Free Speech Coalition \| <WARNING> ePayService / Guerra Capital, INC / MTACC payments \| Flirt4Free Fucks their Affiliates \| Don't do business with piece of shit Andy Alvarez from Webmaster Central / VR3000, who said: "If it was up to me, they would have shot all 30,000 of those country loving shitheads"

10-26-2011, 09:00 PM	#34
AzteK Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Northern Cali, USA Posts: 3,445	This is a fantastic document. Where did you come across this?

10-26-2011, 09:46 PM	#36
PB-Jim Registered User Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 17	You guys shouldn't be surprised by this. Google makes more money from corporations than affiliates. It should be of no surprise that they are transitioning to showing them more attention while packing their own pockets. We are going to need a new search engine in the next few years. Google is crossing the line in a lot of places. Time for someone new to step in and take a small chunk of the pie.

10-26-2011, 09:57 PM	#39
porno jew Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 10,166	facebook will never create a search engine. they have their own alternate way of sharing, sorting and discovering information by recommendation, which google is trying to copy and integrate.

10-26-2011, 11:00 PM	#42
wallofiron Registered User Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 47	I can prove google loves brand new affiliate sites with duplicate content and spammy blog comments from asian tlds

10-31-2011, 06:20 PM	#45
CyberHustler So Fucking Banned Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 26,062	is there something like this yet? ----> sponsors supply affiliates with a code they can put on their own sites, almost like a paypal "paynow" type of button but for surfers to make actual purchases on affiliates site. wouldn't that increase signups too?