Using Fake Review Sites? Like $250k Fines?

[FTC-Hater]

Just out of curiosity, what are you saying here? Are you suggesting that 95% of affiliates that make money now are doing so only by promoting "shady" offers that won't be available for them to promote in 5 years?

No, I'm saying 95% of affiliates currently making their income online, however that may be, won't be in five years. The 5% that still are will control the whole pie; whether that's a higher dollar amount of not.

It has nothing to do with shady offers or if the same type of offers will be around in five years.

Every new industry will start off with numerous people and slowly, through mergers, bankruptcies, etc. come down to a select few relative to the peak numbers.

Happens in the banking industry, railroad industries, beverage industries and will continue to happen in small sub-sections of the affiliate marketing industry and the industry as a whole.

Has happened with search engines in a major way, has happened to networks, has happened to ad networks, has happened to the re-bill market, has happened to the top "gurus" and is happening to affiliate marketing in general.

Everyone wants to try and monopolize. I talk about it with friends all the time about how the space is polarizing. The top x% are getting richer and the vast majority are staying roughly the same or their incomes are dropping. Never have I seen such rapid growth at the top and sluggishness below.

The top x% have larger capital reserves and, if their smart, are able to utilize that to grow faster than others with less and continue to take away market share from them. This competition and need to monopolize as much as possible leads to a higher barrier to entry in terms of cost, which is what allowed success for so many, and my initial point was that the FTC, through their regulations, also oppresses fresh blood from entering into certain segments of the industry.

Just like every industry, no matter how vast, the about of income you can make on the internet is finite. And as long as we aren't all taxed at 100% of our income there will always be a drive to monopolize as much of we can and cut others out. Now, this isn't to say five people will somehow rule the affiliate marketing industry in five years. That's absurd for what is still a pretty free industry with a relatively low barrier of entry. The number will still be in the thousands I'm sure. But those thousands will be much richer than they are now and tens to hundreds of thousands will retire from the industry.

 

[webetricky]

Any recommended disclaimer templates for review sites out there?

 

[dsiomtw]

No, I'm saying 95% of affiliates currently making their income online, however that may be, won't be in five years. The 5% that still are will control the whole pie; whether that's a higher dollar amount of not.

It has nothing to do with shady offers or if the same type of offers will be around in five years.

Every new industry will start off with numerous people and slowly, through mergers, bankruptcies, etc. come down to a select few relative to the peak numbers.

Don't see that really happening. Obviously the "good ole days" are gone, but all those industries you mention have huge barriers to entry which AM does not. With literally an unlimited number of creative ways to make money in affiliate marketing/lead gen, and the 10s of 1000s of niches out there, I just don't see what you're predicting happening at all. In fact I'll be the contrarian and guess that MORE people will be making money online in 5 years via AM/lead gen etc. than do now.

 

[Unarmed Gunman]

Don't see that really happening. Obviously the "good ole days" are gone, but all those industries you mention have huge barriers to entry which AM does not. With literally an unlimited number of creative ways to make money in affiliate marketing/lead gen, and the 10s of 1000s of niches out there, I just don't see what you're predicting happening at all. In fact I'll be the contrarian and guess that MORE people will be making money online in 5 years via AM/lead gen etc. than do now.

What incentive does a traffic broker have to deal with small fish doing $5-$10k buys when they know they have a handful of people that will buy all their good inventory and wire them $100k+ deposits (<---- this is called a barrier to entry btw)? More advertisers = more headaches and potential risk - Why would they risk it unless you're willing to outbid for the inventory? But if someone is doing $100k/day on an offer guess what - they have a higher payout on the offer, or own the offer so how can you outbid them for traffic? What incentive do product owners have to allow thousands of affiliates to run traffic to their product running up the potential risk, when they know a handful of guys will run shit loads of traffic with no headaches?

Networks know where your traffic is coming from, advertisers know where it's coming from - why wouldn't they just buy the traffic themselves and cut out the middle man? If all you're doing is arbitraging traffic that anybody can buy, what makes you think that's a sustainable business model when you'll be competing with people that can get the traffic cheaper and have higher payouts? What exactly do they need you for?

 

[papajohn56]

Don't see that really happening. Obviously the "good ole days" are gone, but all those industries you mention have huge barriers to entry which AM does not. With literally an unlimited number of creative ways to make money in affiliate marketing/lead gen, and the 10s of 1000s of niches out there, I just don't see what you're predicting happening at all. In fact I'll be the contrarian and guess that MORE people will be making money online in 5 years via AM/lead gen etc. than do now.

The barrier to entry into AM has definitely risen over the past 2 years. "Easy" traffic sources for certain offers are drying up or ban things, networks are more selective in who they let run certain offers, and the actual backend for offers has been a headache.

The barrier to entry has definitely become harder.

 

[Flash4Ever]

The barrier to entry has definitely become harder.

The thing is not so bad, at the end

 

[dsiomtw]

What incentive does a traffic broker have to deal with small fish doing $5-$10k buys when they know they have a handful of people that will buy all their good inventory and wire them $100k+ deposits (<---- this is called a barrier to entry btw)?

Perhaps your AM business is centered around media buys, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to do AM or lead gen. I know handfuls of AMs that make millions that have never done any "media buys" the way you're talking about.

The cool thing about AM/lead gen is there is so much you can do with a little creativity. This isn't directed at you or anyone in particular but I think too many people get sucked into the "buy media on network x and promote product y" mentality. There is no one way to do anything in AM, it's practically limitless.

So you buy a lot of media and get 100k visitors to your site in a month. Maybe I offer a cool free service and get 100k visitors a month to my site for free. At the end of the month we both made X in affiliate commissions. One is not necessarily better than the other, although I know which method I prefer.

Networks know where your traffic is coming from, advertisers know where it's coming from - why wouldn't they just buy the traffic themselves and cut out the middle man? If all you're doing is arbitraging traffic that anybody can buy, what makes you think that's a sustainable business model when you'll be competing with people that can get the traffic cheaper and have higher payouts? What exactly do they need you for?

Well, as I said in my previous post, I can always take public traffic, add value, and then send it to a public offer and profit. That will never change. I'm not talking about just buying "media" and direct linking to some offer. Again, it's all about creativity. That is one's primary competitive advantage in a market that has very low barriers to entry.

Anyone with a little money can do media buys. You have no real competitive advantage, and if you that's what you rely on I'd be more concerned about that. I'll disagree with what FTC said earlier and predict that if you rely on media buys to get traffic to the offers you promote as an affiliate, you probably won't be in that top 5% with me 5 years from now.

 

[evasive]

Make your money now. Lots of it. Save 95%. Acquire assets. Disregard lambos. Be rich for life, instead of for a year.

 

[Unarmed Gunman]

Perhaps your AM business is centered around media buys, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to do AM or lead gen. I know handfuls of AMs that make millions that have never done any "media buys" the way you're talking about.

The cool thing about AM/lead gen is there is so much you can do with a little creativity. This isn't directed at you or anyone in particular but I think too many people get sucked into the "buy media on network x and promote product y" mentality. There is no one way to do anything in AM.



Well, as I said in my previous post, I can always take public traffic, add value, and then send it to a public offer and profit. That will never change. I'm not talking about just buying "media" and direct linking to some offer. Again, it's all about creativity. That is one's primary competitive advantage in a market that has very low barriers to entry.

I'm not just referring to media buys, I'm talking about any traffic that you can buy. If you own your traffic (authority site in the niche, email list etc) that's different.

 

[megatabbers]

As far as I see it, FTC and Gunman are mostly right. Most cookie-cutter traffic brokers won't be marketing online in 5 years. It's obvious. However this will still hold true:

I can always take public traffic, add value, and then send it to a public offer and profit.

But only the most creative "brokers" will survive. They'll always be a way to channel the public's demand/desire into a product or service. No one can go buy ALL the media.

But for most, if all you're running is promotions instead of a business, you're not going to last.

 

[ret]

Any recommended disclaimer templates for review sites out there?

Affiliate Disclosure Requirements and Examples

These are the current requirements from the company that got fined, so they are likely direct from the FTC, and they are pretty strict.

 

[FTC-Hater]

Don't see that really happening. Obviously the "good ole days" are gone, but all those industries you mention have huge barriers to entry which AM does not. With literally an unlimited number of creative ways to make money in affiliate marketing/lead gen, and the 10s of 1000s of niches out there, I just don't see what you're predicting happening at all. In fact I'll be the contrarian and guess that MORE people will be making money online in 5 years via AM/lead gen etc. than do now.

There aren't an unlimited ways to make money nor is there an unlimited amount of money to be made.

I've talked to many networks/ad networks that have stopped advertising for new publishers/advertisers and instead focused on growing their top few affiliates who are making more and more money than others and buying up more and more inventory than others.

There will always be little, quirky ways to make money online I'm sure. But the separation between "rich" and "poor" online will polarize dramatically over the next few years and It'll be harder and harder to scale if you aren't already at a certain level.

Success stories will always happen in any industry, it's simply that the money, and ultimately the "jobs", will continue to polarize which is natural in every industry. Nothing to be scared of.

 

[GoogleSearchSux]

FTC Hater I have to agree with you about AM becoming more difficult for someone with little experience or budget, but I have been in the game long enough to know that there will be a new wave that people will capitalize on. The wave is either a new offer type (ringtone, iq quiz, rebills, downloads) or traffic (search, facebook, ppv).

Tip for new guys: if you see a wave be the first to test it out, don't wait till everyone is running it becasue by then it will be too late. Hit it while its hot and hit it hard.

There's already a new wave brewing that very few affilitates are taking on seriously (me included) but I'm sure the first to really tackle it will make tons.

 

[dsiomtw]

There aren't an unlimited ways to make money nor is there an unlimited amount of money to be made.

Tell that to Ben Bernanke! But seriously, for all practical intents and purposes, yes there are.

There are at least 100 ways to make money with any particular offer. If you take the total number of offers out there, the total number of ways one can generate traffic, and the almost limitless ways one can creatively combine one with the other, there are pretty much an "unlimited" number of ways to make money as an affiliate. If you were to list your supposedly limited number of ways to make money I guarantee I could always add to it.

As far as an unlimited amount of money, again, for all intents and purposes there is. Any one of us has the opportunity to make billions. Obviously you don't have the opportunity to make a quadrillion dollars as an AM, but unless you're arguing over semantics, we all have the opportunity to make as much as our financial and personal goals require.

... And whatever amount you make isn't going to reduce the amount I can make, trust me. What you're doing would only affect me if I was trying to do the same exact thing as you, which would be a dumb thing for me to do if you were already mega successful and dominated or controlled a segment of a market. Again it just comes back to not being a sheep.

Some people seem to be very narrow minded and operate with a scarcity mindset. I'd suggest one would be better off doing the opposite ...

 

[webetricky]

For anyone else who needs or wants some kind of affiliate disclosure or similar, I found this template on the web:

Affiliate Compensation Disclosure
COMPENSATION DISCLOSURE
This Compensation Disclosure has been provided for your protection and to fully disclose any relationship between this sites product or service recommendations and the owners of those product or services. It is always recommended that before you purchase products or services on the Internet, including those on this website, that you conduct your own research and exercise due diligence.
The owner of this website is required by law to inform you that a relationship exists between this website and the products or services it reviews, recommends or promotes.
1. Material Affiliation.
It is advisable to assume that any mention of a product or service on this website is made because there exist, unless otherwise stated, a material connection between the product or service owners and this website. It should be understood that any recommendation made by the owner of this site for any product or service has been made in good faith. These recommendations reflect the fact that the owner has either tried the product or service or has extensively researched them and can give an honest opinion to the merit of the product or service. When any website makes any recommendation of a product or service it is advisable to assume the possibility of a material connection or relationship with the owners of those products or services.
2. Product/Service Partiality.
Due to the material connection between the owner of this website and the owners of the products or services recommended here, it must be understood that a bias for these products or services might exist. These biases, although based on facts, could have developed because of compensation for such recommendations from the product or service owners although every effort has been made to provide accurate and true reviews of each product or service.
Regardless of whether the owner of this website has, or will receive compensation from product or service owners, it should be understood that a relationship exist between the two so there does exist, established or not, the potential for a material connection between product and service owner and the owner of this website.
Before entering into any agreement or purchasing any product from this website, it is advisable to understand the potential partiality of the website owner due to possible compensation from the owner's of products or services recommended on this website. You should perform your own research and exercise due diligence prior to purchasing products or services from any website.
3. Compensation.
The owner of this website may receive compensation for recommendations made in reference to the products or services on this website. This compensation may be in the form of money, services or complimentary products and could exist without any action from a website visitor. Should you purchase a product or service that was recommended by this website, it is understood that some form of compensation might be made to the website owner. For example, if you click on an affiliate link at this website and then make a purchase of the recommended product or service, the website owner may receive compensation.
4. This Compensation Disclosure Statement
The compensation disclosure statement has been made to inform you of the possibility that a material connection between a product or service mentioned, reviewed or recommended by this website and the product or service owner exist and that compensation to the website owner may be made should you purchase such product or service. Every effort has been made to provide true and accurate statements in regards to any and all products or services mentioned, reviewed or recommended by this website.
Should you have any questions, comments or concerns and would like to receive an answer or ask a question prior to purchasing any product or service mentioned on this website you can contact the website owner directly at:
(Insert your contact info.)

I searched the first paragraph and it looks like there are tons of sites using it but I couldn't find the original source. Good luck bros

 

[JoseArmando]

For anyone else who needs or wants some kind of affiliate disclosure or similar, I found this template on the web:



I searched the first paragraph and it looks like there are tons of sites using it but I couldn't find the original source. Good luck bros

Also a good way to track people's sites.

 

[wf_prospect]

I heard they are tryign to enact some hardcore regulations on herbal supplements.. not sure if they are making progress getting it passed but I sure as hell hope not.

Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 Seeks to Ban Consumer Access to Dietary Supplements - Life Extension

"The outrage over this bill expressed by so many supplement consumers is that it gives the FDA broad and arbitrary new powers to remove natural products from the marketplace. Since the FDA (and Congress) is dominated by large pharmaceutical interests, this bill will effectively enable drug companies to control which supplements you have access to."

 

[webetricky]

Also a good way to track people's sites.

I wouldn't be too worried about it. After the first few im'ers get fucked by this everyone will have it on their sites. A la terms and conditions, privacy policy, etc.

 

[efeezy]

So what exactly constitutes a "review site"? I just put together a health product "review" site, but I make it clear that the products have not been used or tested by our staff. We simply review the manufacturers stated price, features, ingredients etc. and rate the product on those criteria, compared to similar products on the market. Would this fall into the same category as the fake review sites that are getting busted?

 

[papajohn56]

I heard they are tryign to enact some hardcore regulations on herbal supplements.. not sure if they are making progress getting it passed but I sure as hell hope not.

Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 Seeks to Ban Consumer Access to Dietary Supplements - Life Extension

"The outrage over this bill expressed by so many supplement consumers is that it gives the FDA broad and arbitrary new powers to remove natural products from the marketplace. Since the FDA (and Congress) is dominated by large pharmaceutical interests, this bill will effectively enable drug companies to control which supplements you have access to."

Introduced by "conservative" John McCain

http://mccain.senate.gov/public/ind...Store_id=2fe2fa5d-636b-4705-97df-8318a24f718f