Google describes it thus:

Google acquired the DoubleClick Performics Affiliate operations in March 2008. Together, we’re creating new opportunities for monetization, expansion, and innovation in affiliate marketing.

Performics was founded as the first full-service affiliate network in 1998 and was acquired by DoubleClick in 2004. Today Performics Affiliate operates as Google Affiliate Network and remains committed to delivering affiliate channel growth for advertisers and publishers.

Google has been attempting to enter the affiliate marketing industry since early 2007. At the time Google launched its Referral Program within the Adsense network. This program offered lackluster results, and Google announced it will be closing the Adsense Referrals program soon.

Publishers have the option to replace the referral ad placements with traditional Adsense ads. Google is encouraging them to sign up for the new Google Affiliate Network.

It will be interesting to see how the Google search and Adwords platforms respond to the new Google Affiliate Network link technology. It is common knowledge in the affiliate marketing industry that Google penalizes naked affiliate links.

Uncloaked affiliate links will prevent affiliate pages from ranking well in the SERP’s. Google has been penalizing affiliate links, because it has stated that “thin affiliates” offer little value other than a “doorway page” to another site.

It is ironic that Google is now pushing a network of publishers who will be doing just that.

Google Adwords has also penalized affiliate landing pages with uncloaked affiliate links with its infamous “Quality Score” known to affiliate marketers as the Google Slap. This results in immediate bid requirements of $5 to $10 per click. The end result makes Adwords advertising impossible without using link cloaking and other methods.

 I will be watching and probably experimenting with whether Google will be applying their search and Adwords penalty to publishers using their own affiliate network. I ask all my readers the following important question.

Will Google’s enthusiasm for their new Affiliate Network skew their standard penalty against affiliates?

Feel free to let me know your thoughts on this question.

“Pepperjam Network represents an evolution in affiliate marketing. The creation of Pepperjam Network represents eight years of research and development and the combined ideas, feedback, and intelligence of hundreds of affiliate marketers and advertisers. Pepperjam Network will forever change the face of affiliate marketing by putting power back in the hands of affiliates and advertisers to build long-term, profitable partnerships through better communication tools and transparency,” said Kristopher B. Jones, President & CEO of Pepperjam.

Among a variety of affiliate marketing enhancements, Pepperjam Network addresses the two primary shortcomings of other existing affiliate networks, namely (1) poor, unreliable communication tools and (2) lack of affiliate transparency. With Pepperjam Network, affiliates and advertisers can communicate in real-time via Pepperjam Chatâ„¢, thereby providing a reliable communication system to build stronger, more profitable partnerships. Pepperjam Network also provides advertisers with an unprecedented measure of affiliate transparency, which helps to establish trust, protect brand integrity, and lays the groundwork for open, long-term, profitable relationships. Pepperjam Network also introduces pepperjamADS, which is a first-ever affiliate marketing widget that affiliates can use to serve customized contextual ads from multiple Pepperjam Network advertisers at the same time. (read more)

I must admit I haven’t yet had time to sign up for the network, but I will certainly be doing so in the future. I will report back to the readers of this blog what I find in due time.

If you have signed up already and want to share your thoughts about this new affiliate network, then post a comment below.

 

Ads that are placed above the search results generate a much higher volume of clicks when compared to those placed on the right side of the search page. The clickthrough rate is also much higher if your ad takes the top position, but the conversion rate is not always as good. Top positions generate a lot of impulse clicks that are less likely to convert into a sale. Is Google planning on moving more people into the top positions? They describe the change as follows:

With this new formula, instead of considering your actual CPC, we’ll consider your maximum CPC bid, which you control. This means that your ad’s eligibility to be promoted is no longer dependent on the bids of advertisers below you. Therefore, if you have a high quality ad, you now have more control to achieve a top position by increasing your maximum CPC.

Your actual CPC will continue to be determined by the auction, but subject to a minimum price for top spots. The minimum price is based on the quality of your ad and is the minimum amount required for your ad to achieve top placement above Google search results. As always, the higher your ad’s quality, the less you will pay. And you will never be charged more than your maximum CPC bid. [read more]

The mention of “minimum price” says it all. Google is going to start setting a baseline max CPC for all ads that get listed in top positions. This is possibly as a result of the new information that Google now has access to with it’s recent purchase of DoubleClick/Performics. Many fear that as Google is able to follow each search all the way to the checkout process they will want to raise prices to compensate for those earning an extraordinary ROI. Could this be happening already?

It is not likely that they have already integrated conversion and ROI data into what they demand for click prices, but that situation might not be too far off. Click prices are going to continue to rise as they have for the last several years.

Google is looking to expand their advertising network capabilities, and this is perhaps another move by Google to get into the affiliate marketing space. I have long thought they had larger plans than the simple entry into the CPA space they announced a couple weeks ago. Google wants a piece of the affiliate marketing pie, and apparently they just got themselves one. It only cost them $3 billion.

The official reasons for the acquisitions are as follows:

The combination of Google and DoubleClick will offer superior tools for targeting, serving and analyzing online ads of all types, significantly benefiting customers and consumers:

• For users, the combined company will deliver an improved experience on the web, by increasing the relevancy and the quality of the ads they see.
• For online publishers, the combination provides access to new advertisers, which creates a powerful opportunity to monetize their inventory more efficiently.
• For agencies and advertisers, Google and DoubleClick will provide an easy and efficient way to manage both search and display ads in one place. They will be able to optimize their ad spending across different online media using a common set of metrics.

I have no doubt that Google will greatly expand their advertising network and publisher content alliances through this acquisition. I have to ask myself where Google is headed. In light of their recent attacks on the affiliate marketing space in both Adwords and through their search algorithm: Is Google out to kill affiliate marketing once and for all? Are they going to disband the traditional form of affiliate marketing that Performics currently engages in and replace it with their own proprietary “affiliate technology”? Somehow, I doubt it.

I think they are more interested in keeping the network as it is and collecting the revenue share from merchants. But parent companies and affiliate networks don’t always share the same viewpoint. The last time a large affiliate network’s interests clashed with it’s parent company was at Commission Junction. It is widely thought that ValueClick was behind the ill-advised Javascript Link Initiative that caused so much outrage in the affiliate marketing space. It took thousands of complaints, a petition, and several large merchants considering leaving the network before CJ backed down from requiring the transition to javascript links. Let’ hope Google does not have similar plans in their takeover of Performics.