|
Why Are My Affiliate
Commissions Down? By James Martell The panicked e-mails start rolling in every Spring, and this year was no different. Right around this time, I start receiving messages from affiliate marketers asking “why are my affiliate revenues down?”, or my personal favorite, “I don’t think Google AdSense is paying as much - I think they’ve reduced my commissions.” Believe it or not, these questions are just normal responses to the market. Since the period between the US Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays cause a shopping surge everywhere, even the smallest of retailers invest almost all of their annual advertising budgets in the months leading up to Christmas. Why? The answer is simple. That’s when consumers are… consuming.
Large and small retailers compete for top spots in the Google AdWords paid search results by submitting ‘bids’, much like an eBay auction. Since publishers earn a percentage of the fees collected by Google, it only makes sense that affiliate revenue would increase during the height of the shopping season - when the search volume is clearly at its highest. (as shown in the graph above) It’s like the travel industry, where there is an on-season and an off-season; the peak shopping months are an affiliate’s on-season. And no one should be surprised by the fact that advertising is more expensive during this time, due to the amount of businesses vying for the top spots. The more advertisers that bid, the higher the bidding rates go. If the bids are increased, publishers will naturally earn more in that timeframe. It also explains why publishers (new and old) understand the importance of getting ready for the Christmas shopping season. It’s never too early to start planning. As the holiday season fast approaches again this year, it's time to prepare the sites to take advantage of the shopping boom and resulting profits. If you need assistance to make sure you're ready, check out my SUPER BootCamp. All the best,
|
New to this page? Sign up for the Martell Newsletter above.
|
|
|
As a result, many affiliates
earn the majority of their
annual revenue in these
months. Website owners
displaying Google AdSense
ads typically make most of
their money in these same
months as well.
