Why Adsense Is Not The Finest Affiliate Program?
By: Syed K. Rizvi
This article might come as a bombshell to most of the readers. After all, who doesn't run Google Adsense ads these days? Despite the idea that Adsense lets small publishers like me make lots of money, almost certainly more than any other affiliate marketing program - at least in the short-run; there are some serious shortcomings of this program that stop me from calling it the best affiliate program I have ever joined.
For those unfamiliar with Adsense, let's have a look at its background. Prior to 28th April 2003, Adsense was owned by Applied Semantics, a Santa Monica based firm in California. This high-tech house was successful in creating web's first true content targeted advertising software. Adsense technology was far superior to the proficiency of other paid listings solutions available then, in a number of ways. While others were depending on log stats and behavioral patterns, Adsense could truly process the actual content of web pages and provide the best match in terms of displayed advertisements. In layman's language, if the page talks about cars, the displayed advertisements are about cars … if the page focuses on laptop computers, the ads talk about laptop computers too. Google acquired Applied Semantics to strengthen its search and advertising programs, specially the content-targeted advertising solution. After acquisition, Google opened the door for webmasters to enroll in the Adsense affiliate program and earn commission displaying ads on their web pages that matched site's content. The relevancy of these ads to what the reader is glancing at on webmaster's pages helped generate dazzling click-through rates. So why such a wonderful program is still not the best affiliate program for some of us?
First of all, this "some of us" includes those who have done some hard work writing the content of their web sites - a job much tougher than building the copy/paste product information pages or keywords stuffed directory listings pages. Adsense doesn't create business equity. You could be promoting Adsense for years, yet, you have no warranty for future revenue. The day you stop aggressively marketing this program, there's a full stop to your commission income too. There's no reward for the collective efforts that you have been making in past months or years. Back in 2002, as an affiliate I was actively promoting a web hosting company's services. Even though I'm not very energetic for this company anymore (I resell plans on my own now), I still get a few hundred dollars each month for my past referrals. Adsense does not offer such guaranteed revenue stream. Secondly, Adsense doesn't allow you to build a team of your sub-affiliates and earn a small percentage of commission on their efforts too.
Fine, Google doesn't need my services to spread the word any faster, but saying "Thank You" to productive affiliates also plays a role in increasing loyal webmaster's program involvement and motivation.
I've come across Searchfeed.com that offers 2-tier commission with a similar program. Thirdly, and very importantly, if your web site draws most of the traffic through repeat visitors, be informed that click-through rate declines as frequent visitors get used to seeing the similar Adsense offerings on your pages. Repeat visitors mean that people like your content and respect your opinion. In such scenario, you could be doing far better with an affiliate program that offers recurring flow of revenue.
Smart companies offer more than just one product and you could be earning commission not only on first sale but on all subsequent orders of that customer for the rest of the items in the products mix. Add 2-tier commission ability in criteria for selecting the right affiliate program and you'll make decent figure in the long-run, and that in a less risky situation.
Final Words: Adsense is a good program and can work well on many pages of your web site. However, it shouldn't be your primary & sole activity in the affiliate marketing arena. Make sure your first priority is a program that builds business equity for the affiliate marketer.
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Syed K. Rizvi is a web marketing consultant and affiliate marketer. His website Affiliate Programs Marketing shows webmasters how to run a home based internet business and make money online with legitimate affiliate programs. The website also offers free e-book downloads and online courses. To find out more, please visit http://www.affiliate-pm.com |
