3 ms·

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 the

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.

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.