Are Too Many Amazon Links Bad For Google?

I saw a comment on a thread the other day from somebody who said having too many Amazon affiliate links around your site could be bad for Google because it makes Google perceive your website as an affiliate site.

My site contains long pages of content (very long), and I have Amazon books that are relevant to my content running down the left hand column. Some pages are long enough vertically that I could have 15-20 books shown in that column.

Should I cap my Amazon affiliate links on each page? Or is there no truth to the statement that too many Amazon affiliate links can hurt you in Google?

Thanks in advance to anybody who can help!

 

But I saw many sites with a lot of Amazon affiliate links in them range very well on Google's SERP,
I so confuse about this too.

 

the best thing is to use redurects for the direct amazon links

 

What are redurects?

 

sorry. I meant redirects... like php redirects.
for example there are redirect plugins for wordpress or you can just install a short URL script and use it for redirects only

 

Not sure, does amazon allow us to use redirect link?

 

Ok, so is the consensus that yes having too many is a problem? I'm also interested in rebecks question on whether amazon allows you to modify their code like that.

Also, is Google really not be able to figure out simple php redirects? Does that actually work?

I don't usually like to assume Google is stupid due to the fact that they have their pick of the most brilliant programming minds in the world.

 

Whether or not your site ranks well depends more on how many other websites are linking to you.

I've lots of amazon links on my site, but rank pretty well because I've readers linking back to me.

 

Google is not stupid but they don't like affiliate sites that much. Thus it is better to at least not have direct links to amazon.

And yes, if your site is popular and much linked to it might not be that big issue but you still have a few points "-" for having too many links to amazon

 

No-one really knows how Google's ranking works exactly in this respect, but probably it's fair to say that a lot of affiliate links on a page, by themselves, are not going to count in favour of your site. If that's all that's on your page then Google will consider that site "thin". But other factors like quality content, backlinks, keyword optimisation etc. I think can easily cancel out the negative effect, and there are many sites out there with plenty of Amazon links, that are doing very well. But in any case, the good sites go for quality not quantity - a good review of a digital camera, say, with ONE link to Amazon! Putting dozens of links in is not usually a good strategy.

 

I beg to differ. The smarter they are, the easier it is to fool them. I have sites getting away with crap that was supposed to be banned and buried in 1998. Don't be afraid of Google. They can't catch everything. People say "Google is not stupid" but I say otherwise. If you like to follow the crowd and do what everybody is doing, no doubt Google is going to can your ass. There are millions of ways to hide the affiliate links from Google. You just need your own custom way. That's the secret to success in this field, your own custom scripts, tools.

 

Use GoCodes to Redirect the affiliate links. http://www.wppluginsblog.net/gocodes-mask-affiliated-links-or-add-redirection-for-a-link-in-wp-blog/

 

If your site traffic and revenue is growing, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

The real question you should ask yourself is "are these links making me money?"

Try to eliminate as many non-earning links as possible. There's no point in sending traffic from your site to Amazon if you're not getting anything in return.

 

I totally disagree with the suggestion of redirecting your links. As far as I know, the number of links you have on your site does not play any part in your ranking as long as they are relevant to the content. That said, if the page is a link farm - meaning that it was created just for links, then you might have a problem. Otherwise, you have nothing to worry about. My advice is to make the main content is as long as possible to compensate for the number of links on the side column.

Just an opinion.

 

I think like "hhelen" as well, too many redirect links on webpages may be not better than link directly to affiliate urls, aren't they? So wonder?

 

my site giraffe comforter is on the first page of google the links are all amazon affiliated.
how i got there was by getting backlink to my site. I'm still not make the money i would like, and so i am working hard to be in the top 3

 

You should let people know that you're sending them to Amazon. Your site makes it look like they're buying directly from GiraffeComforter.com - a site that people have no reason to trust.

If you change those "More Details" to "More Details on Amazon," you'll definitely drive more good leads to Amazon, which will make you more money.

BTW, that's one hell of a good niche idea! Best of luck to you!

 

You could cloak your links on here also, which will increase click throughs.

 

I keep meaning to comment on the title of this thread - I keep thinking of something like "Are too many chocolates bad for children?"

Yes, Google will get fat from too many Amazon links!

 

So, with good quality backlinks to my site I can add as many Amazon affiliate links as I like? Thanks for advice.