Google Hates You and Your Affiliate Review Site and This is Why...

[wolfmmiii]

It doesn't matter if you are promoting your affiliate/review sites with AdWords (like I do) or trying to go the SEO route. If ANY of the points below apply to you or your site, you really need to stop complaining about how Google hates affiliates and re-think what you are doing if you expect to build a long-term, sustainable business online.

If you are trying to get your site approved by Google Adwords, the points below are even more important as it is pretty well-established that the AdWords team hates poorly-designed affiliate sites (and for good reason). Addressing the points below will allow you to avoid the dreaded "bridge page" and "site policy" issues that plague most affiliate and product review sites.

If you are trying to rank well via SEO, these points also apply since many of them are closely tied into quality signals that Google uses to rank sites.

Without further adieu, let's get down to why Google hates you....


Your content just plain sucks

A 50-word "product review"? Really? If you expect Google (especially the AdWords team) to take you seriously, how about adding some worthwhile content? It doesn't even need to be a lot. It just needs to be focused and legitimate.


Your content is scraped/copied from other sites & offers no value

This is similar to above. If I land on your site through an AdWords ad that I saw or via a search result, I'm not impressed with the fact that you copied Amazon's product description word for word. I've already seen their product reviews and you just look like an idiot.


Your "product reviews" include 5 lines of crap that do nothing for the end user

If you are going to do a product review, please, at a minimum, add your own spin to it and make it worth reading. Basically repeating "this product is great" over and over is useless.


You don't care about the feedback of your users

Provide your visitors with a way to provide their own feedback - it goes a long way toward legitimizing your site.


You give your visitors no options

A site with a scraped product description, scraped reviews, and 20 affiliate links to the same site can hardly be considered useful. Provide your visitors with options - similar products, alternate vendors, additional content, etc.


You offer no nifty tools to your visitors

Give your visitors something they can use. Cool comparison tools, custom searches, calculators, etc. are all things that will keep visitors coming back. Google will also smile upon your site more often.


You sound desperate since you practically beg for clicks

A few well-placed affiliate links are all that is necessary to generate high CTR without sounding and looking desperate.


Your ego is running the show

Traffic is always good, unless you are paying for it. Stop trying to impress people with how many visitors your site receives when in reality, only 1 in 726 of them actually buys anything. Stop targeting broad terms like "laptops" in your AdWords campaign and learn how to target "buying keywords". I, personally, would rather see 10 visitors to my site per day if 3 of them actually buy something.


You believe TOS equates to "rough guidelines"

NEWSFLASH! THEY DON'T! Terms of Service are exactly that. Stop making yourself out as a martyr. Follow the rules and you will become successful.


Your landing page includes 50 affiliate links

As I mentioned further up, a few strategically-placed affiliate links will suffice. More is not always better.


You spell like a first-grader

For Pete's sake, edit your copy! Why would I buy anything from a site that looks like a first-grader put together? If English is your second language, that's okay - just get someone to proof-read it for you. If English is your first language, grab a freaking dictionary or at the very least make use of a spell-checker.


Your design sucks because you've put forth zero effort

Look at Amazon, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc. Their sites are professional-looking (because they are done by professionals). However, that doesn't mean you have to hire a web design company for your product review site. That being said, you do need to put forth some effort so your site looks presentable. Before you make your site live, just ask yourself if your site is a place YOU would buy from. Better yet, ask a friend or family member for feedback.


Well that’s everything! Those are the reasons that you cannot get your site approved for AdWords. Those are the reasons you are having trouble ranking. Those are the reasons your site is not converting.

[donhx]

Nothing you have said indicates that Google hates anyone. It indicates that people who take a non-professional approach are purposely getting in Google's face.

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by donhx

Nothing you have said that Google hates anyone. It indicates that people who do the wrong things are purposely getting in Google's face.

Hi Don. That was actually the point of my post. The post title is actually tongue in cheek.

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by gujjuboy

Thanks for the info.
Do you think that google will find that i am using affiliate links even if use any URL shorten like blt.ly?

I don't think Google necessarily cares that you use affiliate links although I have seen "some" evidence that affiliate links "may" affect ranking.

I use link cloaking plugins on all of my sites and they seem to do OK.

[Chris Worner]

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

You sound desperate since you practically beg for clicks[/B]

A few well-placed affiliate links are all that is necessary to generate high CTR without sounding and looking desperate.

Could you elaborate a little further, cheers.

Chris

P.S. Couldn't help notice your signature, don't be surprised if this thread gets deleted.

[donhx]

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

Hi Don. That was actually the point of my post. The post title is actually tongue in cheek.

"Tongue-in-cheek?" Oh. Okay. Ha ha.

[Ken_Caudill]

Thanks for an amusing post. I hate Google much more than they hate me, I think.

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by Chris Worner

Could you elaborate a little further, cheers.

Chris

P.S. Couldn't help notice your signature, don't be surprised if this thread gets deleted.

I would hope it wouldn't. I put some time into the post. It's not like I threw a 3-line post up or anything. The eBook in my signature is even free.

Getting back to the original question though:

I see so many sites where the entire area above the fold is engulfed with graphics, ramblings, etc. Although it's common sense to some, many fail to recognize the sheer importance of placing links/monetization "above the fold". Paying attention to your visitors' screen resolution stats can also play a large role in determining what "above the fold" is.

In addition to "above the fold", folks need to carefully consider the wording and context that surrounds links. You can nudge people to click links without screaming in their faces that you are an affiliate.

EDIT: I would be remiss if I didn't mention the heatmap that Google published. Use it! Your links should be in the dark orange area in the middle above the fold.

[wolfmmiii]

Thanks Ken. That's exactly what I was shooting for. However, the message is dead-serious. Too many people complain how Google hates affiliates without really understanding why they are having problems.

[Andrea Wilson]

I have not looked in advertising through adwords yet but there are many horror stories in getting approved. Your points can be my checklist when i try to get into Adwords.

Andrea

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by Andrea Wilson

I have not looked in advertising through adwords yet but there are many horror stories in getting approved. Your points can be my checklist when i try to get into Adwords.

Andrea

Yes, there are lots of horror stories about AdWords and affiliate sites. However, I never have any problems with the sites I build. You just have to think about the user when building one.

If you can present your affiliate site as more of an ecommerce site with good content, the AdWords team will be surprisingly open to it.

[Gail Ogden]

Do you mind telling what link cloaking plugins you use?


Is there any way you point out an example of an awords website that Google likes?


By the way I agree with Google in that when I land on an adword website I want it to be what I bargained for when I clicked the ad.

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by Gail Ogden

Do you mind telling what link cloaking plugins you use?

I use a few different Amazon plugins. Some of them include link cloaking. Which ones do and which ones do not escapes me at the moment. I'll see if I can dig them up later if I'm still awake.

[4morereferrals]

Google has an odd way of showing it

Google is doing a LOT of hatin' ... alas it's a lot of page one sites.

[indiatext]

very thanks for sharing this information...thanks a lot...

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by 4morereferrals

Google has an odd way of showing it

Google is doing a LOT of hatin' ... alas it's a lot of page one sites.

Yeah, that's a whole other issue, albeit related. It really comes down to effort. Some just aren't interested in giving adequate effort.

[Onash]

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

You offer no nifty tools to your visitors

Give your visitors something they can use. Cool comparison tools, custom searches, calculators, etc. are all things that will keep visitors coming back. Google will also smile upon your site more often.

Hi,
Can you recommed any tools that you use ?

Onash

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by Onash

Hi,
Can you recommed any tools that you use ?

Onash

The Google AdWords team has made it clear to me in the discussions I've had with them that they favor sites featuring user interactivity.

Although I discuss a few in Affiliate Sites for AdWords (free eBook), I really, really like using AdSense for Search as it adds credibility, functionality, and monetization to my sites.

[peterhawkins]

as someone who regulalrly creates review sites i couldn't agree more. The whole point of creating a review site is of course to make money as an affiliate but also to provide a comprehensive review of the product. This means actually reviewing the product, testing it and of course offering a great bonus deal to buy through your affiliate link.

I always contact a product vendor first and ask them to let me review it properly to make sure it is a good product who will help people, i also provide a FAQ page on my review site to help answer any questions my visitors may have and most importantly i offer a great bonus deal (not some PLR crap no one needs) but usefull tools that will help the customer succeed with the original product as quickly as possible.

Do these things and the others like wolfmmill said then your review sites should rank well in Google espcially if you put the work in SEO wise.

I personaly write aticles, submit to doc sharing sites, FPR sites and video sites and link them back to my review site. It works for me

[WillR]

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

Too many people complain how Google hates affiliates without really understanding why they are having problems.

If they are making any of the mistakes you mentioned in your original post then I think they deserve to fail. Besides, aren't most/all affiliate review sites designed just for the purpose of making money and lack any real, meaningful content? I would like to see any review site owners who have actually bought all the products they are 'reviewing'. Unless you are actually testing all the products and writing an honest review on every product then I think you are no different to those people writing content that "just plain sucks".

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

I would hope it wouldn't. I put some time into the post. It's not like I threw a 3-line post up or anything. The eBook in my signature is even free.

Maybe so, but you are still trying to push your website in the ebook. This is just a round-about way of doing things.

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by WillR

Besides, aren't most/all affiliate review sites designed just for the purpose of making money and lack any real, meaningful content?

I'm not sure I'd say "most /all" review sites lack meaningful content but I would agree that many do and that's why you see horror stories about AdWords accounts being banned.

Originally Posted by WillR

Unless you are actually testing all the products and writing an honest review on every product then I think you are no different to those people writing content that "just plain sucks".

I wold not agree at all with this statement. There are plenty of ways to create a very good product review without ever using the product. The devil, however, is always in the details. Context is very important as is what kind of interactivity, tools, and feedback options you provide to your visitors.

[WillR]

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

There are plenty of ways to create a very good product review without ever using the product.

I don't agree. How can you write an honest product review without ever using the product? How can you review a movie without ever watching it? How can you review a restaurant without ever eating there?

It's ridiculous, misleading, and thus why Google is trying to get rid of all the people creating these types of sites. And I hope they succeed in doing so.

I don't want my friends or family being sucked in by these silly review sites that have only be created for the sole purpose of pushing product, nothing more.

[Jeremy Barker]

You have a very good point here. Is it getting more and more complicated for Google to recognize an affiliate site. They are starting to crack down on this.

One thing you can do is start a blog (wordpress.org), customize this blog for an SEO site and you can give that to google. Of course you can advertise your landing page, etc on your blog to point people in that direction.

Again... Don't overload your blog with ads!

Good Luck

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by WillR

I don't agree. How can you write an honest product review without ever using the product? How can you review a movie without ever watching it? How can you review a restaurant without ever eating there?

Like I said, the context in which you present the review information is what determines whether it is helpful or not. The visitor feedback polls and feedback options I include on my sites and on the hundreds of Web 2.0 properties I own clearly indicate users are happy with my information even given the fact that in virtually all of the reviews, I make it clear I don't own the product.

However, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Thanks for the input.

[Alex Barboza]

Am I smelling a WSO here?

Just kidding. I like your points and I agree with them

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Barker

You have a very good point here. Is it getting more and more complicated for Google to recognize an affiliate site. They are starting to crack down on this.

.......

Again... Don't overload your blog with ads!

Good Luck

I wouldn't say Google is cracking down on affiliate sites in general. They are cracking down on poor-quality sites, many of which are thin-affiliate sites.

I do agree with your statement about not overloading a site with ads.

[frank07]

Your view about Google as Google is a Angel, he will know everything. No, Google do not love or hate anyone, if you make your site with Google favor, they will bring you to top. Google is a machine, it makes by people, sometime he do not know what good or bad, that why we can see many crap website on top on search engine.
But I agree with you about conversion, you or me went to their crap site and do not buy or clicks so they get less conversion than useful website.

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by AlexBarboza

Am I smelling a WSO here?

Just kidding. I like your points and I agree with them

I actually considered a WSO but figured giving info away for free at this time was best. I utilize quite a few strategies that produce monthly income but saw a gaping hole concerning review sites.

PPC is, after all, the fastest (and most stable) way to generate affiliate income.

Thanks for the comments. Hopefully the info helps someone out there.

[Zachmo]

Originally Posted by AlexBarboza

Am I smelling a WSO here?

Just kidding. I like your points and I agree with them

lol. but he has some good points here but I don't agree with some.

[johnsmart]

Well i think another good idea is to cloak your affiliate links

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by johnsmart

Well i think another good idea is to cloak your affiliate links

Absolutely, especially if you are going the SEO route. I cloak mine even on my AdWords sites but I'm not sure that's really necessary.

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by frank07

Your view about Google as Google is a Angel, he will know everything. No, Google do not love or hate anyone, if you make your site with Google favor, they will bring you to top. Google is a machine, it makes by people, sometime he do not know what good or bad, that why we can see many crap website on top on search engine.
But I agree with you about conversion, you or me went to their crap site and do not buy or clicks so they get less conversion than useful website.

Google knows more about your site than you think, especially if you use Analytics. Since bounce rate is possibly something Google includes in its ranking algorithm, making a site user-friendly is important even if you aren't promoting via AdWords.

[rvrabel2002]

Good post, but i think its even harder than you think. I once submitted a 40 + page review site that did not even have an affiliate link on it and was banned from adwords. The pure fact is that google does not like affiliate sites period. I know theres going to be a ton of guys that say "oh thats bs, you need to lead the visitor on a long path and provide substantial content, unique user experience, blah blah blah. I did EXACTLY that and they said "no way chief".

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by rvrabel2002

The pure fact is that google does not like affiliate sites period.

I know for a fact that this is not true as I VERY RARELY have any issues getting affiliate sites approved. I will agree, however, that Google dislikes THIN affiliate sites.

[rvrabel2002]

Dude, I am telling you, my site was not thin at all, its sole purpose was not to direct users to another site, and it was loaded with tons of content. They called it a bridge page.

The only legitamate thing i can see being done is to collect leads for local small businesses as an affiliate, like florists or something.

Google can be really hard to please

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

I know for a fact that this is not true as I VERY RARELY have any issues getting affiliate sites approved. I will agree, however, that Google dislikes THIN affiliate sites.

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by rvrabel2002

Dude, I am telling you, my site was not thin at all, its sole purpose was not to direct users to another site, and it was loaded with tons of content. They called it a bridge page.

The only legitamate thing i can see being done is to collect leads for local small businesses as an affiliate, like florists or something.

Google can be really hard to please

I don't know what to tell you. I've done 10 or 15 sites and none have been disapproved. I honestly don't see why people have such a hard time with it.

Remember, they are disapproving your landing page, not your SITE as a bridge page. I suspect that your landing page that was disapproved included outbound links to just 1 or 2 domains OR the wording of your content was suspect.

For example, setting up a kick-ass review site and then saying on your landing page "click here for more reviews" and sending people to Amazon will almost always get you tagged as a bridge page.

Obviously, I can't say for sure without seeing the site but I'm certain I could find the offending issue in under 10 minutes. If the site is still live, feel free to PM me a link to it if you'd like me to take a look.

[rvrabel2002]

ok, just pm'd you. I would love to get this site back on adwords.

[wolfmmiii]

Rob...

I'm gonna run back out and will only be available sporadically. I've sent over some recommendations.

[inter123]

Hi.

I have been doing Amazon sites but they are generally unsuccessful to date. 80% of the site get to the first page only for it dissapear to the backwaters. The commonality with all these sites is that each page has about 20 affilaite links to Amazon and I am sure this has something to do with the rankings.

Would you advise me to cloak the links or better if the user is sent to a page where they have the option of clicking to Amazon if they so wish?

Cheers.

Jim.

[wolfmmiii]

I'm posting from a phone so this will be short. I'd recommend reducing the number of affiliate links. Twenty just sounds like too many. Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate too many affiliate links negatively impact a site. Uncloaked links are even worse. I try to cloak every affiliate link I use.

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by inter123

Hi.

I have been doing Amazon sites but they are generally unsuccessful to date. 80% of the site get to the first page only for it dissapear to the backwaters. The commonality with all these sites is that each page has about 20 affilaite links to Amazon and I am sure this has something to do with the rankings.

Would you advise me to cloak the links or better if the user is sent to a page where they have the option of clicking to Amazon if they so wish?

Cheers.

Jim.

Now that I'm back home, let me expand just a bit. The initial boost your sites are getting is probably a result of QDF. After the initial boost, your site settles into a more normal ranking. When that happens, the mass of affiliate links becomes more of a problem.

I'd certainly reduce the number of affiliate links and also be sure to cloak them.

[Michael55555]

lololololol nice post. thanks, sir.

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by Michael55555

lololololol nice post. thanks, sir.

Thanks. Hopefully it is helpful to folks out here. I was hoping it's satirical tone generated visibility and it appears it has.

[JonMills]

Google dont hate anyone except spammers

Google runs their own affiliate program ( Google Affiliate Network ) so they are for affiliates

What they want is what any person online wants - relevant content

[wolfmmiii]

Originally Posted by JonMills

Google dont hate anyone except spammers

Google runs their own affiliate program ( Google Affiliate Network ) so they are for affiliates

What they want is what any person online wants - relevant content

That's pretty much the point of my original post.

[MarketingTorch]

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

Hi Don. That was actually the point of my post. The post title is actually tongue in cheek.

I got that immediately, and was chuckling at the title as the post was opening, mentally adding my own tag, "Google Hates You and Your Affiliate Review Site... and your little dog too!"

[wolfmmiii]

I was going to start a separate Q & A thread about AdWords and affiliate sites but this thread is probably as good as any.

EDIT: Nevermind. Relaized the thread title wasn't real conducive to my intent. I've started a new thread instead.

[melovedogs]

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

Thanks. Hopefully it is helpful to folks out here. I was hoping it's satirical tone generated visibility and it appears it has.

Nice article, because of your thread I signup to this forum
I want to ask you something, unfortunately I can't send you private message until I have 50 posts

[seolearner09]

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

I'd certainly reduce the number of affiliate links and also be sure to cloak them.

Hi

How do I cloak my affiliate links?

I have 1 to 2 aff links per page (400-700 words of content per page). At the moment, I am only using the 'nofollow' tag on my affiliate links, is this good enough?

Many thanks in advance.

[idk007]

good stuff. I've seen people complain about not ranking but their site its so crappy that I'm surpised the hosting company hasnt shut it down