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>Outright Amazon Affiliate links, on the other hand, are a direct and obvious conflict of interest. Suddenly the author's opinion is rendered self-serving and q

by batista 14y ago

>Outright Amazon Affiliate links, on the other hand, are a direct and obvious conflict of interest. Suddenly the author's opinion is rendered self-serving and questionable. Not really, since you can point to the things you ACTUALLY like --it's not like Amazon only carries one brand/model of things.

huggyface 14y ago
I understand that the submission is going to naturally draw people who already have an interest in affiliate links, however I still have to ask -- are people really this profoundly naive? Is there a complete ignorance about the whole unavoidable reality of conflicts of interest? Why do you think Amazon has affiliate links? Why are they busy handing out millions (though, as so many say, it's "free") to thousands of shills pimping products and consumerism? Why don't they eliminate the product because people are just naturally talking about things they like.
- batista 14y ago
  >I understand that the submission is going to naturally draw people who already have an interest in affiliate links, however I still have to ask -- are people really this profoundly naive? Is there a complete ignorance about the whole unavoidable reality of conflicts of interest? Why stop there? Do you assume people are THAT naive to not be able to tell a honest review/mention + link from a dishonest push? >Why do you think Amazon has affiliate links?* To get people to send traffic to them? >Why are they busy handing out millions (though, as so many say, it's "free") to thousands of shills pimping products and consumerism? Amazon is pro-consumerism? I'd never...
  - huggyface 14y ago
    Do you assume people are THAT naive to not be able to tell a honest review/mention + link from a dishonest push? You underestimate the influence of a conflict of interest: The people peppering their entries with affiliate links will probably pass a lie detector test that they are just completely "honest", but the pervasive influence and guiding force is inevitable. The moment you're being effectively paid to pitch something, your opinion loses all merit.
    - batista 14y ago
      >The moment you're being effectively paid to pitch something, your opinion loses all merit. Your statement doesn't hold for everyone, YMMV. Especially since the "effectively" is quite obscure when talking about "affiliate" links where one can chose among products he DOES respect. By your logic people wouldn't trust magazine and site reviews, since they carry ads from the companies making the products...
excuse-me 14y ago
The point isn't necessarily promoting one item - it's promoting a class of products. eg. This week I think everyone should have a UPS, here is a link to an amazon product - I don't care if you buy it so long as you now have the Amazon affiliate cookie lodged. Next week - why I think everyone should have a home NAS ..etc.... They are no longer even product plugs they are just a weekly - talk about anything available on Amazon - pieces
- batista 14y ago
  >eg. This week I think everyone should have a UPS, here is a link to an amazon product - I don't care if you buy it so long as you now have the Amazon affiliate cookie lodged. Next week - why I think everyone should have a home NAS ...... Well, an edge case. It's not like you can't easily spot a blogger that writes with that intent...
  - excuse-me 14y ago
    Especially since it's just a small $$ version of what most computer trade press have been doing for 30years

by batista 14y ago

huggyface 14y ago

I understand that the submission is going to naturally draw people who already have an interest in affiliate links, however I still have to ask -- are people really this profoundly naive? Is there a complete ignorance about the whole unavoidable reality of conflicts of interest? Why do you think Amazon has affiliate links? Why are they busy handing out millions (though, as so many say, it's "free") to thousands of shills pimping products and consumerism? Why don't they eliminate the product because people are just naturally talking about things they like.

batista 14y ago
>I understand that the submission is going to naturally draw people who already have an interest in affiliate links, however I still have to ask -- are people really this profoundly naive? Is there a complete ignorance about the whole unavoidable reality of conflicts of interest? Why stop there? Do you assume people are THAT naive to not be able to tell a honest review/mention + link from a dishonest push? >Why do you think Amazon has affiliate links?* To get people to send traffic to them? >Why are they busy handing out millions (though, as so many say, it's "free") to thousands of shills pimping products and consumerism? Amazon is pro-consumerism? I'd never...
- huggyface 14y ago
  Do you assume people are THAT naive to not be able to tell a honest review/mention + link from a dishonest push? You underestimate the influence of a conflict of interest: The people peppering their entries with affiliate links will probably pass a lie detector test that they are just completely "honest", but the pervasive influence and guiding force is inevitable. The moment you're being effectively paid to pitch something, your opinion loses all merit.
  - batista 14y ago
    >The moment you're being effectively paid to pitch something, your opinion loses all merit. Your statement doesn't hold for everyone, YMMV. Especially since the "effectively" is quite obscure when talking about "affiliate" links where one can chose among products he DOES respect. By your logic people wouldn't trust magazine and site reviews, since they carry ads from the companies making the products...

excuse-me 14y ago

The point isn't necessarily promoting one item - it's promoting a class of products. eg. This week I think everyone should have a UPS, here is a link to an amazon product - I don't care if you buy it so long as you now have the Amazon affiliate cookie lodged. Next week - why I think everyone should have a home NAS ..etc.... They are no longer even product plugs they are just a weekly - talk about anything available on Amazon - pieces

batista 14y ago
>eg. This week I think everyone should have a UPS, here is a link to an amazon product - I don't care if you buy it so long as you now have the Amazon affiliate cookie lodged. Next week - why I think everyone should have a home NAS ...... Well, an edge case. It's not like you can't easily spot a blogger that writes with that intent...
- excuse-me 14y ago
  Especially since it's just a small $$ version of what most computer trade press have been doing for 30years