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I wanted to take a second to share the contrarian opinion in support of OP's use of affiliate links. He/she did a lot of work to make this project and to maint

I wanted to take a second to share the contrarian opinion in support of OP's use of affiliate links. He/she did a lot of work to make this project and to maintain it. I think they are done tastefully and sensibly in a service that adds value.

criddell 10y ago
I just searched the page for "affiliate" and most of the comments seem to be requests for how much money they generate. I'm curious myself. When somebody posts a link to Amazon in a comment thread that contains an affiliate code, I think that's fair to criticize. When somebody points to something they built that uses affiliate links, it comes down to how it's presented (and more importantly, how often it's reposted). Who wouldn't be interested in a followup post 6 months from now with a breakdown of traffic and revenue?
- tedmiston 10y ago
  Kudos to OP if he decides to share that information, as like others, I'm curious to know.
  - leandot 10y ago
    Sure thing!
gkst 10y ago
Having done a similar project[1], that also includes affiliate links to Amazon and being called a spammer by some people because of that, I really appreciate your stance, that if a project adds value, monetizing it is okay. Moreover, I'd like to add that affiliate links are less intrusive and dangerous wrt to malicious code and user privacy. I wonder why Adsense et al rarely get called out, but affiliate links do. Maybe it's my confirmation bias or it's because people don't see those other ads, because of using an ad blocker. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10924741 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10924741
- tedmiston 10y ago
  I remember that one... it looks like I shared a similar view in your thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10927366 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10927366). :) I think your hunch is correct — we hover over the links and see it in the query string. There's probably a Chrome extension out there somewhere to strip affiliate links from URLs, but honestly they've never bothered me because they don't detract from my experience.
mwexler 10y ago
Perhaps if the creator had clearly disclosed at the top of the list that a) links contain affiliate codes and b) just trying to pay for a good service that they'd like to expand, then perhaps there would be less vitriol. But without disclosure, then whether tasteful or "sensible" (what does this even mean here?), it can easily come across as deceptive.
unabridged 10y ago
Exactly. If google.com was posted as a Show HN would they be complaining about outgoing links being monetized? As soon as I heard books I automatically assumed it would have links to amazon. And if you are linking to amazon from your own website you are stupid if you aren't using affiliate links.

criddell 10y ago

I just searched the page for "affiliate" and most of the comments seem to be requests for how much money they generate. I'm curious myself. When somebody posts a link to Amazon in a comment thread that contains an affiliate code, I think that's fair to criticize. When somebody points to something they built that uses affiliate links, it comes down to how it's presented (and more importantly, how often it's reposted). Who wouldn't be interested in a followup post 6 months from now with a breakdown of traffic and revenue?

tedmiston 10y ago
Kudos to OP if he decides to share that information, as like others, I'm curious to know.
- leandot 10y ago
  Sure thing!

gkst 10y ago

Having done a similar project[1], that also includes affiliate links to Amazon and being called a spammer by some people because of that, I really appreciate your stance, that if a project adds value, monetizing it is okay. Moreover, I'd like to add that affiliate links are less intrusive and dangerous wrt to malicious code and user privacy. I wonder why Adsense et al rarely get called out, but affiliate links do. Maybe it's my confirmation bias or it's because people don't see those other ads, because of using an ad blocker. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10924741 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10924741

tedmiston 10y ago
I remember that one... it looks like I shared a similar view in your thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10927366 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10927366). :) I think your hunch is correct — we hover over the links and see it in the query string. There's probably a Chrome extension out there somewhere to strip affiliate links from URLs, but honestly they've never bothered me because they don't detract from my experience.

mwexler 10y ago

Perhaps if the creator had clearly disclosed at the top of the list that a) links contain affiliate codes and b) just trying to pay for a good service that they'd like to expand, then perhaps there would be less vitriol. But without disclosure, then whether tasteful or "sensible" (what does this even mean here?), it can easily come across as deceptive.

unabridged 10y ago

Exactly. If google.com was posted as a Show HN would they be complaining about outgoing links being monetized? As soon as I heard books I automatically assumed it would have links to amazon. And if you are linking to amazon from your own website you are stupid if you aren't using affiliate links.