5 ms·

This article is an affront to everything I know and have experienced about keyboards, all to post a non-disclosed affiliate link.

GarrisonPrime 7y ago
I have no problems with affiliate links not being disclosed. Why does it matter? If they're providing a useful link to someone, I don't care if Amazon gives them a few pennies as a reward. If their link is not useful, no one is harmed.
- corobo 7y ago
  Because it may just be that the article is written around the links, rather than the links inserted into the article. Sure you might not bother buying the keyboard after clicking through but the affiliate link is tied to you for x days, so they'll get a bit of cash of anything you buy in that time. Why is it a problem if it doesn't cost you? It costs you the time to read it. Disclosing acknowledges this potential and explains what's going on in advance so you know you're not just reading trash someone wrote to make a quick buck.
  - Chirael 7y ago
    Also, if I'm researching a product or category and find several articles discussing it, knowing which ones have affiliate links allows me to weight them appropriately (i.e., discount the affiliate articles somewhat, and give more weight to articles without affiliate links).
  - nickjj 7y ago
    I don't think you can make that assessment just by looking for affiliate links or notices. What if you found a 2k to 5k word article on something you really wanted to know about and maybe buy. Also what if that person spent 5,000 hours over 5 years building up their site and only 5% of the posts on their site has an affiliate link for something. Would you discard that post as trash / scammy because they happened to drop an affiliate link into it because they personally used that product for years before writing about it? IMO you can't really gauge any of that just by looking for an affiliate notice or not.
    - corobo 7y ago
      Please do note the difference between me answering "Why does it matter?" and a review of your article. I have made no comment on this specific article. I don't make the assessment by looking for affiliate links. I make the assessment on undisclosed affiliate links, which I believe the article was at the time. It's one of many things that could indicate an article written around affiliate links and nothing is perfect. You've since added disclosure so it's a moot point now :)
      - nickjj 7y ago
        Ah true. Yes there was no disclosure before.
- banachtarski 7y ago
  I also have a website with some affiliate links. Disclosing them as such is an FTC-mandated practice. It's not about giving pennies as a reward or not. It's about responsible transparency and standard fair business practice.
mtmail 7y ago
The blog is very technical (Docker, Linux, VIM) https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/ https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/ As far as I see it's the first post about a product. I don't believe it was written just to push affiliate links.
- nickjj 7y ago
  Thanks. I had another 4,000+ word post about monitors from a few years ago. After 250ish posts it's hard to keep track of everything but I think you are right. That monitor and this keyboard post is the only time I ever specifically wrote about a product. I write about what I happen to be learning about and using at the moment. Sometimes it's Flask, sometimes it's Vim, sometimes it's finding a useful product or service I came across while doing developer related things (like typing or looking at a monitor for long hours per day). Often times what I write is what I wish I could have read before having to put in all of the hours of research myself.
  - jhoechtl 7y ago
    That's what (technical) blogging should be all about. Much appreciated, thanks!
  - banachtarski 7y ago
    https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftc... FYI.
    - nickjj 7y ago
      Thanks. I'm working on addressing that now. I'm currently at 1,800 words to explain the use of my affiliate links for an upcoming post. Then I will modify my static site generator to auto-insert a 1 line sentence into any post with an affiliate link. It will be a couple of hours or even a day for all of that to materialize since I need to balance that into a full day's work but I do want to get it out asap, so maybe tonight I'll be going to bed late. :D

GarrisonPrime 7y ago

I have no problems with affiliate links not being disclosed. Why does it matter? If they're providing a useful link to someone, I don't care if Amazon gives them a few pennies as a reward. If their link is not useful, no one is harmed.

corobo 7y ago
Because it may just be that the article is written around the links, rather than the links inserted into the article. Sure you might not bother buying the keyboard after clicking through but the affiliate link is tied to you for x days, so they'll get a bit of cash of anything you buy in that time. Why is it a problem if it doesn't cost you? It costs you the time to read it. Disclosing acknowledges this potential and explains what's going on in advance so you know you're not just reading trash someone wrote to make a quick buck.
- Chirael 7y ago
  Also, if I'm researching a product or category and find several articles discussing it, knowing which ones have affiliate links allows me to weight them appropriately (i.e., discount the affiliate articles somewhat, and give more weight to articles without affiliate links).
- nickjj 7y ago
  I don't think you can make that assessment just by looking for affiliate links or notices. What if you found a 2k to 5k word article on something you really wanted to know about and maybe buy. Also what if that person spent 5,000 hours over 5 years building up their site and only 5% of the posts on their site has an affiliate link for something. Would you discard that post as trash / scammy because they happened to drop an affiliate link into it because they personally used that product for years before writing about it? IMO you can't really gauge any of that just by looking for an affiliate notice or not.
  - corobo 7y ago
    Please do note the difference between me answering "Why does it matter?" and a review of your article. I have made no comment on this specific article. I don't make the assessment by looking for affiliate links. I make the assessment on undisclosed affiliate links, which I believe the article was at the time. It's one of many things that could indicate an article written around affiliate links and nothing is perfect. You've since added disclosure so it's a moot point now :)
    - nickjj 7y ago
      Ah true. Yes there was no disclosure before.
banachtarski 7y ago
I also have a website with some affiliate links. Disclosing them as such is an FTC-mandated practice. It's not about giving pennies as a reward or not. It's about responsible transparency and standard fair business practice.

mtmail 7y ago

The blog is very technical (Docker, Linux, VIM) https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/ https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/ As far as I see it's the first post about a product. I don't believe it was written just to push affiliate links.

nickjj 7y ago
Thanks. I had another 4,000+ word post about monitors from a few years ago. After 250ish posts it's hard to keep track of everything but I think you are right. That monitor and this keyboard post is the only time I ever specifically wrote about a product. I write about what I happen to be learning about and using at the moment. Sometimes it's Flask, sometimes it's Vim, sometimes it's finding a useful product or service I came across while doing developer related things (like typing or looking at a monitor for long hours per day). Often times what I write is what I wish I could have read before having to put in all of the hours of research myself.
- jhoechtl 7y ago
  That's what (technical) blogging should be all about. Much appreciated, thanks!
- banachtarski 7y ago
  https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftc... FYI.
  - nickjj 7y ago
    Thanks. I'm working on addressing that now. I'm currently at 1,800 words to explain the use of my affiliate links for an upcoming post. Then I will modify my static site generator to auto-insert a 1 line sentence into any post with an affiliate link. It will be a couple of hours or even a day for all of that to materialize since I need to balance that into a full day's work but I do want to get it out asap, so maybe tonight I'll be going to bed late. :D