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An Introduction to ROR (Resources of a Resource)
An Introduction to ROR (Resources of a Resource) *** What is ROR? ROR (Resources of a Resource) is an XML format for describing the content, objects, and structure of websites in a generic fashion so search engines and other web applications can...
Beware of Fake SEO consultants.
Some important facts you need to know before you choose your Search engine optimization company or an SEO specialist . =>If a Search engine optimization firm has guaranteed you number 1 position on Google, number 1 Yahoo listing , Top Msn ranking...
How to put your offer in front of enough people to make money on the net
Whatever it is that you are selling online, there is a simple truth. You will need to get your offer in front of enough people to be able to make a single sale. Once you know your conversion rate (that is how many people you need to put the message...
....Is Network Marketing Easy??....
I personally believe we do a dis-service to the industry and ourselves if we openly state...or even allude...that NWM is easy. It's not. Nor is any business....WAH or brick & mortar. Anyone who does say different is not being wholly truthful. I...
Is Your Site A Rich Feast Or A Dogs Breakfast? Part 1 of 2
It had started out as a prank, a practical joke to play on some of her ostentatious yuppie friends. They had always had the last laugh at her expense and now it was to be her opportunity for revenge. Half an upturned can of Pal surrounded by...
My Adsense Journey
As a blogger, I started creating websites that I found personally interesting to me. I found articles that were fun and interesting and posted them for people to read. After all.. people create blogs so they can share their feelings and...
RSS is Not Only for Blogs
Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik Contrary to popular opinion, RSS is not only good for delivering content from your blog, although blogs are what made RSS so popular. In fact, RSS can be used to deliver a great variety of content and content types. If...
RSS Works: Hard Metrics to Prove It
Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik Marketers are constantly asking if RSS marketing works and if this can be proved. It's time to take a look at some real-life RSS metrics from real-life marketers. These will show you what kind of results you can expect...
WHAT! INTERNET ETIQUETTE – Net Etiquette?
Many people know how -- and do conduct themselves in the real world properly. However, many people are unaware that this same conduct needs to be applied online as well. Net etiquette is basically the rules you should follow while in Cyberspace....
Writing Search Engine Friendly Webpages
Copyright 2005 Cobrasurf.com
In order to tap the huge stream of targeted traffic an internet search engine can provide a website you need to master a few common sense principles when crafting your webpages.
You can rest assured no sites...
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Google's Secret Guidelines On Thin Affiliates
Journalist Henk van Ess has caused a flurry of excitement on blogs and forums.
In his blog he revealed that Google uses teams of humans all over the world to evaluate the accuracy of Google's search results.
These "international agents", who are paid $10 to $20 an hour, were recruited mainly through universities. They're paid to check search results at Google every day.
Don't be distracted by the debate over whether Google should be doing this.
Of course it should. It's just a form of quality control.
Google can use the evaluators' findings to tweak its algorithms and reduce search engine spam.
What affiliates need to pay careful attention to is Google's "Spam Recognition Guide for Raters", which Henk revealed.
If you're a "thin affiliate," beware.
Although the report is a year old, about 80% of its contents are still being used by Google's evaluators, Henk says.
The confidential document gives us an unvarnished look at Google's attitude to affiliates.
If you're using any of the "manipulative techniques" Google describes, this report will probably encourage you to take a hard look at your website.
I hope you're not silly enough to be using hidden links or hidden text. Not surprisingly, Google teaches its "raters" how to detect them.
Are you creating pages without much content with the aim of collecting pay-per-click (PPC) revenue? Google's raters are taught to mark such pages as "Offensive", and gives examples.
Google secret guidelines spend some time discussing different ways in which some affiliates display results from pay-per-click search engines, so if you're doing that, you'll definitely want to study this report carefully.
Are you displaying ads disguised as search engine results?
Google finds them offensive.
Are you adding a dmoz.org feed to your site with the aim of
earning PPC revenue? That's "offensive", too.
Google says:
"We differentiate between affiliates that produce
extra service, value, or content, and those that
simply are duplicates of other sites, set up to
boost traffic to other sites and earn a commission
for it. The former ones are not Offensive and
should be rated on the merits to the query. The
latter ones
are Offensive...
"Thin affiliate doorways are sites that usher
people to a number of Affiliate programs, earning
a commission for doing so, while providing little
or no value-added content or service to the user.
A site certainly has the right to try to earn income;
we're attempting to identify sites that do nothing
but act as a commission-earning middleman."
To Google, affiliate links such as qksrv.net, bfast.com and myaffiliateprogram.com - on the page or in redirects - "strongly suggest" that the site is a thin affiliate.
Are you using an affiliate datafeed? To Google, that's another warning sign.
However, if you offer a comparison of prices between different online merchants, you're OK, you're not a thin affiliate.
Google provides an incredibly tough guideline, which hundreds of thousands of affiliate sites fail to meet.
Google says:
"Do not call a page affiliate spam when an
affiliation is only incidental to the message
and purpose of a website. To determine whether
participation in affiliate programs is central
or incidental to the site's existence, ask
yourself this question: Would this site remain
a coherent whole if the pages leading to the
affiliate (merchant) were taken away?"
That probably counts out most affiliate sites.
In summary, if you want to be friends with Google, make sure you provide extra value or content.
I've quoted only parts of the report. Any serious affiliate will want to study the whole thing carefully.
You can read the full report on Henk's blog here...
http://www.searchbistro.com/spamguide.doc
Note: A Google employee broke a non-disclosure agreement by revealing this report. I don't know how long it will stay online. You may want to do what I did - save a copy of it on your hard drive.
Now we know what Google really thinks of affiliates. You've been warned.
About the Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Allan Gardyne has been earning a very good living from affiliate programs since 1998. Learn from an affiliate veteran. Get his FREE newsletter...
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com
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