Did Amazon join the network?

I used the co-op for a couple months before realizing I wasn't required to have ads link to the same site that generated the weight.

I just noticed a co-op link to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The url was to amazon. I'll change it but it looked like this amazon dot com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=someonesamazonidhere&path=tg%2Fdetail%2F-%2F0439784549%2Fqid%3D1106832743%2Fsr%3D8-1%2


now, I'm wondering...is someone using this like an unfocused adwords amazon affiliate with no landing page? (or maybe they just really like harry potter and amazon)

Would this be permitted? Could be common practice for all I know, but I'd never noticed an ad like that.

 

it sure looks like an affiliate link.

It has what looks like an affiliate id in it.

 

I looked for a rule about that too and didn't see it, but it's way past my bedtime...yawn. I'll probably wake up and see nothing but amazon and overstock.com ads at the bottom of my pages...

 

after sleeping on it...

I have seen affiliate ads on the network before...for the co-op. So this is probably allowed.

Now I'm wondering , would it be worth it? Writing direct link ads to hot products?

Direct Linking vs Landing Page

Direct linking is a lesser method in adwords because you compete with all the other ads pointing to a domain. The strategy there is to build a landing page and then only have to compete on keywords. Since co-op ads display randomly, this part of the landing page argument is gone.

downside of direct linking

no customer loyalty or bookmarking
no page rank benefits
no chance to pre-sell

I guess the final question for me would be...

If I'm going to take the time to write a text aff. ad that will be viewed about the same number of times as the co-op ads at the bottom of my pages, why wouldn't I just put that text aff. ad there? My answer is, I want to draw surfers to my sites for fun and profit.

Speaking of fun, I'm off to the beach.

 

That's an amazon affiliate link. Within the link, look at the part which says tag=someonesamazonidhere that's the affiliate's id. Personally I think that's a complete waste of co-op weight.

 

Don't Amazon affiliate links include a 1x1 image with your referal id in it? How would they do a text link or banner ad in the coop without that 1x1 image and still get the credit for the sale?

 

I asked a similar question regarding this with CJ links. Apparently (with CJ anyway) you still get the commissions, it just doesnt count impressions.

 

I'd be weary of using affiliate links in that fashion, particularly with CJ. If CJ sees you getting clicks/leads/making sales and not making any impressions, they'll suspend your account for review under the asumption you might be using their affiliate links in spyware. It's happened to one or 2 people I know who were posting affiliate links in their forums (just the URL).