Should I pay for tagged Search results?

[aris]

Occasionally I see rankings in some SE that include affiliate tags. Should I pay my affiliates for traffic coming from SE because it's tagged by him, or detect SE traffic and cut the affiliate tagging ? What do you think ? Are there ethics guidelines out there for this sort of thing ?

[seobook]

Originally Posted by aris

Occasionally I see rankings in some SE that include affiliate tags. Should I pay my affiliates for traffic coming from SE because it's tagged by him, or detect SE traffic and cut the affiliate tagging ? What do you think ? Are there ethics guidelines out there for this sort of thing ?

well your affiliates have to get their traffic from somewhere...

but you should configure your site to where you affiliate URLs are not getting indexed unless you don't mind giving your best affiliates a cut.

sometimes if you get enough aggressive affiliates and your aff program is SEO friendly you end up getting a ranking boost yourself to where the main merchant site outshines the efforts of the affiliates because many of the affiliates are boosting the main site.

[5starAffiliatePrograms]

Hi aris,

Affiliates should get paid for all the traffic they send you unless they are doing something that is fraudulent or against your terms of service. To cut the affiliate "tagging" out would be unethical, unless there is something funny going on with the links you are asking about. May want to give us a generic example (not a link that includes your own URL, just use "mycomany.com") if there is something more complicated going on.

[Marcia]

There are some affiliate managers who run "contests" and give bonuses for search engine placements for certain select keyword and phrases at different times of the year. That's a good way to incentivize efforts, and it's win-win for all concerned.

[PhilC]

Originally Posted by aris

Occasionally I see rankings in some SE that include affiliate tags. Should I pay my affiliates for traffic coming from SE because it's tagged by him

You aren't getting that traffic from the search engines; you are getting it from the affiliate's pages, and it would be wrong to cut the payments for it.

Some sites that run affiliate programmes specifically state that the affiliates are not allowed to run PPC ads on the products, but I'm assuming that you don't state that, and that the rankings you are talking about are organic.

I'm very surprised that you would have any negative thoughts about an affiliate's pages ranking highly in the engines, so that you are getting the benefit of their work.

[aris]

An example of a URL would be :

http://www.MYWEBSITE.com/home?affiliate=4564

in which case MY websites ranks and I pay an affiliate for the click

some search engines like MSN never include listings such as that in Search results. .but Google and Yahoo do..

My question would be easier to break down:

• Is my page ranking because of that certain affiliates link to begin with - to justify his tag (and commission) on the end of my link?

• Is it common for others that their rankings are tagged?

[Bonz]

Aris,

Generally speaking, it's not the affililiate's plan that their URL has landed in the SERPs. They're there because the search engines haven't quite figured out how to deal with this situation, and because the affiliate has caused this particular page to have higher link pop than your actual homepage.

It's possible that if it were not for this affiliate, you would not rank as well or at all for this particular search, so while it may feel like they're getting money for nothing, you are benefitting from their work.

Keep in mind that they generally cannot help that their aff link is showing. To just cut them off will possibly cost you that affiliate entirely. If you do feel in your case that it's unreasonble for the affiliate to get paid for that traffic, talk to the affiliate about it and see if you can't make some sort of arrangement.

[PhilC]

I see what you mean, aris. I'd thought that the affiliate's page was ranking.

But I agree with Bonz - It's the affiliate's work that got the ranking there, and s/he should benefit from it. Treat it as an unexpected bonus for both you and the affiliate.

Some affiliates plant the links in places where you can post them - there are many abandoned forums and blogs around where you can post links without them being removed, and guestbooks are another target. The affiliate may have done some good work in planting the links all over the place. But however the page came to have a high ranking, it's the affiliate who got it there, and s/he should reap the benefits from it.

[PhilC]

Another thought:-

Don't forget that a search engine is just a website like any other website. If affiliates are allowed to put links in websites that aren't their own, why shouldn't they put them in a search engine website - it's just another site.

[aris]

I am convinced. If technically this affiliate has helped a good deal getting the link up there then it is naturally to my benefit to solicit this and not fight it.

thank you all for your help with this.

[5starAffiliatePrograms]

Thanks aris for sharing your concern with us, listening to our advice and for doing the right thing!!!