Why Google treats brands differently

The reason Google must treat brands differently is simple and can best be illustrated by one question…
when was the last time you linked to google.com?

You haven’t linked to Google.com because everyone knows what it is

If you linked to Google every time you said “google” it would be quite tiring. You don’t link to Google.com and you have not linked to it in quite some time. You speak alot about Google, but you don’t link to it.
Let’s look a little closer at this, because trends are important to Google.

1. When a new website or brand comes out people write about it and link to it in predictable ways

When Google came out, many people were impressed by it and they spoke about it in a certain way and they always linked to it when they mentioned it, because they were sharing a new resource and wanted to point people to it.
new brands

2. As a website or brand grows in popularity, the way it is linked to is not as predictable

This is where most websites find themselves. Since some people may know about the brand or site, people who write about it are still likely to link to it, but are less likely to use the exact anchor text as they did. A good example of this would be when you linked to “twitter.com” (when it was well used, but before it became a household name) the anchor text you used was likely to be “Twitter”, not “Twitter.com” which is a very different thing.
somewhat known brands are talked about and linked to differently

3. When a brand or site becomes widely known the way people link to it and speak about it becomes predictable again.

Because they stop linking to it. Just like you don’t link to “google.com” anymore, other people do not link to well known things because it just doesn’t make much sense. People also start talking about it always as “google” or “twitter” rather than “google.com” or “twitter.com” and the way people search for it changes in the same way.
well known brands are not linked to as well as they once were


Well known brands are linked to less

Nobody really links to “google.com” anymore, using traditional SEO theories of link votes, this would mean that Google was losing popularity. But of course, it is not.
The same can be said of people, brands, or whatever else. In the SEO world I may mention Danny Sullivan alot, but I don’t link to him. Everyone in my audience knows who he is.

Less links does not mean less relevance

Brands are mentioned all the time and are not linked to as much as they once were. This is not a sign of irrelevance, it is a sign of success. This means Google treats such things differently. The rules are tweaked, the amount of value a link has is lowered, the amount of value a mention or citation is given is increased and treated differently.
Google doesn’t treat brands differently because of some backroom deals, it does it because it has to.

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Ebay Partner Network discusses new pricing in video

The video isn’t full of details to say the least, but it does tell us that the clock is ticking to the pricing change that has many publishers shaking in their boots…

The EPN blog post is here.

Ebay Partner Network to update click pricing model

On the EPN blog, they announced that the way publishers get paid (how much they get paid) will be updated soon.

They did not say what the changes are

They simply stated that in the next few weeks / months the terms will change and that they will inform us soon.
Some may wonder why they would announce a change, but not say what the change is, but I understand why. They get their heads chopped off with critiques when they change something without warning.

This is that warning

This change to terms has something to do with how much EPN will value existing customers with new customers. Many publishers are worried about what that will mean, and rightfully so.

Publishers work hard to create loyal and returning fans to their websites and therefore to Ebay

Many publishers entire strategy is to keep their niche well informed and return often to see what is new on their site and what is newly available on Ebay. If EPN devalues such customers then there will be a strong reaction from publishers.

Ebay Partner Network has survived many such fiascoes

EPN has made several unpopular steps, that in hind sight were not so bad. They left CJ (Commission Junction) and that was supposedly the end of the world but it was not. Then they changed the pricing for ACRUs and that was another end of the world that wasn’t. Then they started Quality Click Pricing, an entirely new way to pay affiliate publishers, and that didn’t end the world either.

However just because the world doesn’t end doesn’t make it helpful

I am pretty committed to EPN and their program, but they haven’t been very committed to us publishers. What they see as small changes can create months of work for others or restructure entire strategies to keep up with their changes.
Publishers haven’t gotten to have much input in the past.

The wildcard search problem

Not long ago Ebay made a change to the way they did searches on their site. The change affected a great deal of publishers who were not given any warning it was coming.

Ebay decided something, and did it. They have that right. At the same time, publishers were only given a few days of notice for that change (which Ebay later extended). It really told publishers that they were not that important, which I sort of understand.
It is Ebays job to maximize their profits and make things useful for their users. I get that.
Ebay is an auction site, not a publisher hand holding service.
However…
Publishers (I am one of those publishers) had every right to be mad because it was really unbelievably a radical change that would affect most publishers. They didn’t even warn us at all that it was coming.

What publishers can do about it

I only know what I will do about this and other such changes they throw at us publishers.

  • I will accept that I am an affiliate of Ebay, not Ebay.
  • I will understand that Ebay is a fluid company that will make changes that are not always ideal for me.
  • I will have a backup plan.
  • I will have other ways to monetize my websites at the ready.
  • If the day comes that the negatives outweigh the positives I will consider not using them anymore.
  • I will appreciate the good things about the program, and there are a great deal of good things to appreciate.

EBay might like that I think that way, but they shouldn’t.
You see, Ebay is an internet company. Internet companies come and go. The ones that last typically take care of their partners.
Right now Ebay has an army of publishers who are very adept at what they do. If a better deal comes along will that army be loyal? I am starting to think they won’t.
The worse they treat their publishers and API users, the less loyal they will become.

A smart venture capitalist could recruit the “army” who create or channel 30 or 40 percent of Ebay transactions (Ebay publishers and API users) by providing a better environment rather easily

But they can’t do that to loyal partners.

Ebay provides so many publishers with such great tools and products to sell that make websites able to make money that wouldn’t be able to without Ebay. I think publishers should be more patient in general. In all actuality, some of the changes I “had” to make because of Ebay changes have made my sites better.

I myself am giving them the benefit of the doubt

The EPN team has really been trying to be more transparent in their dealings with publishers lately and have stated that is one of their main goals for this year. We will find out if that is true soon. But like I said I am willing to wait to see what they are going to do and how they are going to do it before critiquing them for it.

What the EPN team can do to lessen the blows they deal to publishers

I would hope that they give ample warning and preparation time to publishers. Ebay has a way of just stating “hi, next week this or that will change”. A week isn’t enough time for anyone to adjust to anything.
Let us say for example that they are going to pay less for existing customers and more for new customers then they should understand that this is a major change for publishers.
Ebay asked publishers to send them quality traffic and we did that and we created websites and strategies to do so. Now if they are going to ask us to do something different, they will hopefully realize that it could take some time to adjust to their new wishes.
Can’t wait to see what happens :) The internet is exciting and I like it.

Yahoo closes Flickr affiliate program

Yahoo was paying for referrals to Flickr, both free accounts and pro accounts were rewarded.

But now Yahoo has announced they will close the program

As of April 2013 the Flickr affiliate program will end.

However…

They do hint at rewarding mobile users to join Flickr in the future, so the affiliate program may return with mobile specific actions.

Their announcement

“We will be removing our Flickr actions from the affiliate program at the start of the new quarter on 4/1/2013. At this time, please be sure to remove any Flickr text links and creative from your websites. Note that that this removal includes both the free Flickr sign-up as well as the paid Flickr Pro upgrade.
Though we are removing these actions from the program, Yahoo! remains focused on driving user engagement with the Flickr property. As their focus shifts from Flickr PC registrations to Flickr mobile application downloads, we’ll be evolving our affiliate offer accordingly. If you are interested in possibly promoting a Flickr mobile application in the Yahoo Affiliate Program, please send an e-mail to yahooaffiliate@cj.com and include your account number (CID) in your e-mail. We will review your account and when the app is ready for affiliate promotion we will reach out to you with more details if your account is deemed appropriate.”

Geotargeting isn’t just for you, it is also for your users

Rant time.

Why the hell do I need to wait 10 to 20 seconds to see an article on searchengineland.com?

Because they are not using geotargeting

I am weird and I am often in weird places. One time, in a small town in Italy, I waited over a minute to read an article. If you are in a place with slow internet, and you are also waiting for a damn popup screen ad to load, and the damn screen ad doesn’t give you an option to close it until it is loaded, you are screwed.
Go make a cup of coffee, come back and read the article.

Yuck!

I think 99 percent of websites that force ads on users that block content could really be less “American” and just go the less selfish route. By this I mean that what frickin value does your pop up ad have to a user in Algeria?

If it has no value, then WTF?

I remember arguing lividly with SEOmoz and Rand about their damn popup ads years ago. Since then no thing has changed which is weird because they have users all over the world who don’t give a crap about those ads, and those ads add ridiculous load times to people who really have no option but to say “what assholes do this?”

Make pages for users

Good advice.

Geotargeting isn’t hard

If one were to add “make pages for users”, and “geotargeting isn’t hard” they could really do some incredible things, like not making people wait for no friggin reason whatsoever.

End Rant

I always feel sorry for searchengineland and seomoz because I always use them as examples and the truth is many people who are dear to me work at those places. But they are the best in the business, so I hold them to standards, standards like not infuriating people who have slow connections all over the world.
However…
Seriously?
I need an ad to your conference in America when I am in the Philippines?
No.
No, no, no.

Geotargeting is great, use it people

Everyone in America gets your ads, everyone outside America doesn’t.
It take like three lines of code people, come on.