Why Are Affiliate Links Banned?

blighst on 20/05/2016 - 21:03
Last edited 20/05/2016 - 21:23

Just something I was wondering - there seems to be a hatred of them everywhere but I see them as beneficial:

From you FAQ:

Affiliate links are not welcome on OzBargain. Many OzBargain members are already using various cashback schemes (e.g. CashRewards) to receive cashback from various affiliate networks. Therefore by using an affiliate link, our members may miss out the chance of getting cashback, which makes your deal more expensive! We also don't want to encourage users sharing low quality deals for the sole purpose of affiliate commissions.

IMO I think these arguments are invalid.

  • If I want to buy something through CashRewards then I will do so by not clicking through Ozbargain (as that way the sale would not track). Letting the OP put an affiliate link in the body of their submission would in no way affect this.
  • Regarding low quality deals I can see this being an issue however deals are peer reviewed (through downvotes/upvotes etc.). The bad deals would simply be weeded out. Alternatively make a requirement of 98% upvotes:downvotes or something to start putting affiliate codes.

I many benefits of affiliate codes, the primary one being:

  • Encourages users to actively go and look for deal (I know some do already). I would trawl Amazon in my spare time if I knew there was a financial incentive for finding a good deal.

Also another thing to think about:

Sites like I Want That Flight operate off Affiliate deals. Many deals are linked straight to them as opposed directly to the booking site which you can often get Cashrewards cashback through. I feel as though if these websites are allowed then there is no reason affiliate deals should be banned.

Opinions?

(Just raising some points and I'm happy to hear Scotty's reason for the banning of them.)

Site Discussion

Comments

  • GameChanger on 20/05/2016 - 21:44
    -7

    They're not banned and some users are making a good financial return.

  • ozhunter on 20/05/2016 - 23:13

    I think the deal poster are allowed to put them at the end of the post. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/247608

    Many people would just spam the site with deals so they can get store credit from referring others.

    • blighst on 21/05/2016 - 10:44

      That's a referral program (credit received) not an affiliate one (cash received)

  • Moderatorneil on 20/05/2016 - 23:43

    Yes, that section of the Deal Posting Guidelines needs to be made clearer.

  • scotty on 21/05/2016 - 08:56
    +1

    We used to allow affiliate links (especially Amazon ones) but they have been banned since Oct 2013. Biggest problem being OzBargain misrepresented in the affiliate network / Amazon partner program.

    We currently allow referral links (which also have low-quality issue, but that was somehow under control with the ref-posting limits), as referral programmes usually allow you to use those links wherever you like. Affiliate links on the other hand, usually require you to explicitly applying to be part of an affiliate program. In the past we have people claiming that they are representing OzBargain to get them into Amazon Partner program (in order to post their Amazon links on OzBargain) — certainly not something we want. Affiliate networks also have stricter rules on how you can use the links.

    As of IWTF — all the affiliate links are on their site and not on OzBargain. They are also a flight comparison site which is in a murky category. In the travel industry there are layers and layers of middleman, and I don't think we should ban all the flight and hotel comparison sites simply because they are not the airline or hotels.

    • blighst on 21/05/2016 - 10:46

      Ah I totally understand about the registration thing. I guess there is no way to properly enforce it.

      Hopefully in the future there's a way it can work.

      Thanks for the reply

  • fruit on 21/05/2016 - 12:09
    -1

    Because they encourage low quality deals and spam.

    • blighst on 21/05/2016 - 12:34

      If you read my post you'll see that I acknowledged this and suggested some solutions

      Regarding low quality deals I can see this being an issue however deals are peer reviewed (through downvotes/upvotes etc.). The bad deals would simply be weeded out. Alternatively make a requirement of 98% upvotes:downvotes or something to start putting affiliate codes.

      • fruit on 21/05/2016 - 12:49
        -1

        Deals appear before being "peer reviewed". I don't want New Deals to be full of crap

        • blighst on 21/05/2016 - 14:37
          -1

          I mean deals are peer reviewed after they're posted. I.e. you can neg them if they're crap.

          There's nothing at the moment stopping crap deals from being posted - if you have 98 out of 100 postive votes vs negatives then it should be fine to post an affiliate code imo as if it's bad you won't be able to post one again until you get another load of upvotes.

        • fruit on 21/05/2016 - 15:21
          -1

          @blighst: There is bad incentive to post deals if affiliate/ref links are allowed, since they are effectively paid to post.
          OzBargain doesn't have cumulative karma (Reddit) or allow affiliate/ref links (mostly) which means there is no point in posting a deal unless it's good as you don't earn anything. Of course spammers come along looking for SEO but they get shot down, however even they spoil the experience for me.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join