How long can the affiliate model go on?
 

Seriously. This is getting to the fucked up stage.

I've been a full time affiliate for many years, earning substantially more than I did as a full time programmer, but it's getting to the stage where you're getting shafted by:

a) search engines - as soon as you are identified as an affiliate site, your domain is finished (times that by 300 sites at the moment all need a total revision / disposal).

b) program owners - no comment.

c) ppc companies. always a discrepancy of thousands of hits per week between supposed clicks, and affiliate program reporting. someone is lying.

d) general spyware / aff code swapping scum sucking pigs

So what is an affiliate supposed to do - create some bullshit review sites, hiding their shallow affiliate facade underneath a veneer of glossy front pages and naff caricateurs for the benefit or search engines? Policeman, I ask you....

Only a few conclusions:

- run your own programs so you can rip a new one for all and sundry like others do
- try to do different things on a weekly basis as an affiliate - for others to rip the idea within X weeks of doing each
- quit
- other

I seriously think the days of Affiliates making a living from this schiz are numbered.

So, what next...:Oh crap

take your affiliate money and open your own sites that you push exclusively on your own with no affiliates

Yes, that's what I'm thinking about - I have bank to do whatever I want, I just don't know what to do at the moment.

Its fucking dogshit - I agree.

Its the fucked up searchengines that piss me off the most about affiliate based work. They fucking hate affiliates and seem hell bent on shafting us up the fucking ass.

Fucking MSN didnt even fucking index some of my TGP sites - probably because too many links off the main page - but WTF? A fucking tgp is about links.

The fucking engines make up the rules as they go along. And as for google - need I say fucking anything?

Owie, expletives make my eyes sting :helpme

I agree though, search engine marketing is where I've always been strong at - had #1 in google for a top 10 adult phrase for 12 months in google, which bought me lots of nice things (not quite a house but nearly), however I haven't been able to game the engines in the last 2 years, and now I'm semi screwed.

Not looking for help here, but program owners must surely be shitting themselves that their main income earners are about to vaporise.

Ask yourself this question, if affilliate links start disappearing then who's links start rising?

Once you answer that then you will start to see why no program owner would care.

Precisely the short sighted program owner's answer. Sure they will be #1 for "phrase 1 phrase 2" - wonderful - but what about phrase 3 - phrase 300099 that some affiliates mop up the traffic with. usual shitfight.

Without affiliates, most programs would maybe get 10% of their current traffic, at best. amazing they get so little respect.

As an affiliate I'm making $500 a week off my little blog without even trying. And most of my traffic comes from search engine traffic - Mostly picture searches. I spend maybe five minutes a day working on my blog.

It's easy money!

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

keep thinkin that

Complaining won't help much. Acting will.

I was considering that, but heck, I'm no De Niro.

Webmasters have fucked themselves in the ass with years of SE abuse. People got fed up with searches topped by irrelevant porn links. You lot fucked the surfer and now the system is fucking you.

Have never ever done that. Always promoting programs directly related to keywords, and good conversions bear that out.

The business is constantly evolving and you have to evolve with it.

"Webmasters have fucked themselves in the ass with years of SE abuse."

Errrrrr - yeah right - clearly you know what you are talking about.

"You lot fucked the surfer"

Did we?

What are you accusing us of?

Added to ignore list.

become a program manager and get a % of sales from it.

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :error :error :error :error :error

I appreciate my affiliates. All 20 of them.

exactly

:thumbsup

"become a program manager and get a % of sales from it."

:)

Well funny - I like that one :)

i just started my traffic network about 6 months ago and its coming along quite nicely.

What is it youre describing? Can you expand on that?

well? Any answer?

Wots this traffic network?