Will the affiliate model die this year ?

[Greg B]

Originally Posted by Mike AI

The affiliate marketing model has been around before the Internet, and will continue strong after - including porn.

However, cracking down on shady affiliates is certainly a trend. Supporting "needy" affiliates is many times not worth the money and effort.

The days of the free sites is coming to an end. 8 years ago there were many webmasters who made great livings running free websites. Today it is more and more difficult because the Search Engines have learned how to keep the traffic and $$ for themselves.

What Mike AI said.

In addition, it'll take just one or two affiliate programs to fuck up with an underage model to cause a major problem. It would be wise to really stay on top of which companies are ethical and not. Let's say Company 'A' does everything right and has 10,000 webmasters selling their shit. Then out of the clear blue it's found one of the hardcore models bullshitted about her age to get money to pay for her family's farm and all the checks and balances failed. Does that put the other 10,000 wemasters as well as the customers in danger? Could be if a prosecutor saw a cash cow and political edge. Would the fines be by the day for 'each' offense of a pic, banner, vid, link? There're enough greedy bastards out here who would push for it.

What about the actors with the girl? Are they in for it even though they trusted the company to keep the records straight? Has it happened before?

Giving someone something to sell for you is and always has been a good idea and profitable. It'll never die especially in this business. Niche-rarity will be the foundation. In some cases it's a win-win situation so why not?

[Hammer]

Don't worry Kath. I have an airboat trip planned for LC and a nice tour of the Everglades, and of course a gator hunt. Gonzo will videotape the whole thing for my show and hopefully we'll get LC to wrassle a nice bigun.

[softball]

I predict that the Affiliate model will die this year before Christmas. I think TGP sites will all disappear before New Years Day. I predict that all Toplists will vanish before Easter.
I also predict total peace in the Middle East by Labour Day.

[Hell Puppy]

The pricing model could use a makeover, but I dont see affiliate marketing going anywhere. It's basically a commission....something that's been applied to all forms of sales forever.

Most other affiliate models on the internet have gone thru several makeovers thru the years, including Amazon. Greed keeps adult stuck on a $35 PPS or better model just so your affiliates dont run across the street. Meanwhile, pay site owners have to be more and more devious to afford to pay that as things like pop-ups, pre-checked cross sales, etc have gone away.

[softball]

"Meanwhile, pay site owners have to be more and more devious to afford to pay t"
No we don't. We control the product. The traffic monkeys have to be more devious because we will survive but they are in dire straits. I have always had a firm belief that traffic rats are hangers on in this business.