from Hacker News

Google may be about to kill affiliate marketing links

by jsm386 on 5/7/19, 2:15 PM with 18 comments

  • by biznickman on 5/7/19, 2:29 PM

    While I agree that they will eat into affiliate marketing revenue, this title is completely misleading. The links still work, consumers just may not access them if Google's review algorithm becomes robust.

    Frankly, this is not a new issue. It's just the effort by Google to use publisher content & data for their own profit continues to expand.

    I always end up going to Wirecutter and their related sites for product reviews as they are the modern Consumer Reports. In those circumstances, the affiliate link will still function as anticipated.

  • by debacle on 5/7/19, 2:39 PM

    Title is very inaccurate clickbait. Killing affiliate marketing would be a very bad idea for Google.

  • by ravenstine on 5/7/19, 2:46 PM

    If I understand correctly, this appears to be a continuation of the growing disparity between the little guy and Big Corp. The article talks a lot about publishers relying on affiliate links, but there are also many bloggers, YouTube channels, podcasters, etc., who have been making use of affiliate links. Will Google be "bypassing"(for lack of a better word) those peoples' affiliate marketing as well by placing their own links for those same products at the forefront?

  • by MisterBastahrd on 5/7/19, 2:37 PM

    Unless Google does something about Amazon Prime, good luck with that. Not having to pay for shipping on a case by case basis is the ultimate killer app for online purchases.

  • by aiCeivi9 on 5/7/19, 2:36 PM

    Slightly related but I recently saw more spammy "product review blogs" (that just list products with very short description and affiliate Amazon links) in top 10 google results. I wonder if that is related.

  • by jsloss on 5/7/19, 2:52 PM

    We’re moving from a world where we actively search to a word where “the best” is recommended to us.

    Google will continue to build out lines of business that make sense in a post search world (hardware, shopping platform, ....?)