Ultimately, getting kicked off GAN may be better for affiliates, too.
The Google Affiliate Network let advertisers buy and track affiliate ads on a cost-per-conversion basis. Publishers could quickly post the ads and get paid via AdSense when a user clicked through and converted.
On Tuesday, Google announced it would wind down the network over the next few months. In a blog post, J.J. Hirschle, head of Google Affiliate Network, cited the rapid evolution of CPA advertising and said the company would focus on newer CPA tools like Product Listing Ads, remarketing, and Conversion Optimizer.
Businesses that depend on affiliates to drive traffic and sales will need to first find a new network to manage their accounts and then notify affiliates of the new network, so that affiliates can sign up. Affiliates, for their part, will need to keep track of where their merchants have moved, sign up, and then replace all the affiliate links in their sites.
Says Tricia Meyer, who operates 12 affiliate sites including SunshineRewards.com, and averages $25 million in annual sales, says that while larger affiliate sites may be run off a database and need to replace a single link per merchant in that database, "If you're a blogger, every time you write a blog post about a merchant, you pull a link from Google. So you might have to replace every link in five years of blog posts."
Acceleration Partners is one of the many affiliate program management companies that has offered free evaluations and help in migrating from GAN.
Ultimately, getting kicked off GAN may be better for affiliates, too.
The Google Affiliate Network let advertisers buy and track affiliate ads on a cost-per-conversion basis. Publishers could quickly post the ads and get paid via AdSense when a user clicked through and converted.
On Tuesday, Google announced it would wind down the network over the next few months. In a blog post, J.J. Hirschle, head of Google Affiliate Network, cited the rapid evolution of CPA advertising and said the company would focus on newer CPA tools like Product Listing Ads, remarketing, and Conversion Optimizer.
Businesses that depend on affiliates to drive traffic and sales will need to first find a new network to manage their accounts and then notify affiliates of the new network, so that affiliates can sign up. Affiliates, for their part, will need to keep track of where their merchants have moved, sign up, and then replace all the affiliate links in their sites.
Says Tricia Meyer, who operates 12 affiliate sites including SunshineRewards.com, and averages $25 million in annual sales, says that while larger affiliate sites may be run off a database and need to replace a single link per merchant in that database, "If you're a blogger, every time you write a blog post about a merchant, you pull a link from Google. So you might have to replace every link in five years of blog posts."
Acceleration Partners is one of the many affiliate program management companies that has offered free evaluations and help in migrating from GAN.
