If your site is doing well with AdSense, you might want to consider upgrading to Google’s affiliate program. Spurred by the acquisition of DoubleClick, the Google affiliate network is designed to garner you specific commissions from specific retailers.
It’s pretty simple – as usual Google has their hands firmly on the reins. You have to apply separately for the affiliate network – it is completely apart from AdSense currently, and much more targeted. This program will be probably more restricted than AdSense as far as you will have to have a pretty sharp site to get the affiliates that will bring in the big commissions.
They do, however, off a pretty nice sampling of affiliates, including Sears, Target, Circuit City and Barnes and Noble as well as several large financial institutions.
The program sets you up to apply to certain advertisers, and they have the final say on whether or not they accept, after Google vets you for adhering to program guidelines and qualification requirements.
The set up is CPA (cost-per-action) of course, so the idea is plain enough – the advertisers place ads on your site, and for each lead or sale received by a visitor’s click on that ad you receive a commission.
Not too shabby, and potentially worth quite a bit more than the standard AdSense program. The affiliate network pays twice a month based on the bounty or revenue share generated by each action.
You will want to evaluate your site to see if it is a feasible move for you, as you want a high conversion rate to attract appropriate advertisers, but this new opportunity is promising to be a very nice thing for webmasters who prefer to work through Google.
Tags: advertising, affiliates, CPA