Affiliate Marketing: Google affiliate program
When you think about affiliate programs, what comes into your mind? You probably think in term of Clickbank affiliate program, Amazon affiliate program, Ebay affiliate program and Commission Junction affiliate program. Do you even know that Google has an affiliate program? You are aware of Google Adsense as a mean of making money. There are many articles about making money with Google Adsense in the Internet. However, these articles do not mention about Google Affiliate Program. The writers probably do not know the existence of it. If you want to make big money online, you definitely must engage in affiliate marketing. If you have Google Adsense account, it makes sense for you to join Google Affiliate Program. Let us take a look at Google Affiliate Program. 1. Google Adsense and Google Affiliate Program The requirement for joining Google Affiliate Program is a valid Google Adsense account. If your Adsense account is terminated, you can forget about affiliate marketing with Google. The commission payment is made through Google Adsense account. The part I do not like about Google Affiliate Program is the term of payment. Some merchants have 90 days payment term. That means you are likely to receive the commission 90 days later. Let us suppose you make a sale on 5 January, and the commission is $30. You get the commission in April due to the 90 days payment term. That does not mean you can see the amount in Google Adsense yet. The updating of account information takes place a month later. That means you can see the earnings in Google Adsense report in May. If the combined earning in Google Adsense is less than $100, you have not reached the minimum payout in May. You probably have to wait until June for payment. Google will send the check by the end of July. By the time the check reaches your mailbox, it is August. Think about how long it takes to see the $30 commission. 2. Merchants Google Affiliate Program is similar to Commission Junction. You have to apply to each merchant for approval. Some merchants do not accept affiliate marketers from different parts of the world. The merchants supporting Google Affiliate Program are based in United States.
Some of the well known merchants are Sears, Kmart, Puma and other international brands. If your readers and contacts come mainly from Asia, you are not likely to make money with Google Affiliate Program.
3. Cookie
The cookie duration varies according to the requirement of each merchant. Some merchants have less than 5 days cookie. Some merchants have 60 days cookie duration.
4. Commission
The commission rate varies as well. The lowest commission I have seen is just 2%. However, if the customers buy more products through your link, the commission rate will increase.
Some merchants are quite generous, offering commission rate in excess of 10% for all products.
It is best you find a merchant with products that you know very well.
Most merchants offer physical products, such as groceries, hotel accommodation and shoes.
5. Links and banners
Some merchants offer a few hundred links and banners. If you look at the links and banners designed by Kmart, you can see frequent updating. Kmart and Sears design banners for nearly every item on promotion.
However, the links and banners are often valid for a short time.
Some merchants offer simple banners with no expiry date.
Are you eager to join Google Affiliate Program now? If you have Google Adsense account, you might as well join it. It is hassle free to sign up for Google Affiliate Program.
The troublesome part is the signing up with each merchant, and waiting for approval.
How much can you make with Google Affiliate Program?
Since nobody has written anything about making a few thousand dollars with Google Affiliate Program, it is hard to have an average figure.
The fact that hardly anyone knows about Google Affiliate Program is good news to new affiliate marketers. That means you hardly face any competition from the super affiliate marketers.
It also means that you cannot draw on the experience of other affiliate marketers in product selection and promotion.
Yes
No
Flag
Comments
I have heard of the Google Affiliate Program, but did not know exactly what is was. Thanks for explaining.
You must be logged in and verified to post a comment. Please log in or sign up to comment.