Scott Jangro brings up the issue of merchant specific branded links being supported by networks as a hot topic from this year’s just concluded Affiliate Summit. I heard some of those same conversations, and while this is nothing new, the recent focus on SEO benefit is potentially troubling…

On an even more serious note, one concerning thing was a good amount of sidebar talk about a disturbing trend where the major networks are enabling ?branded? affiliate links that go directly to the merchants domains. While smaller networks have been doing this for years and this is nothing new even for some bigger programs like ebay.com and their rover links, there?s a new spin on SEO benefit and link juice. A few big merchants seem to be stepping squarely onto this slippery slope. It?s all very short-sighted and misguided, in my opinion. But this is a topic deserving a post on it?s own, so I?ll leave it at that for now.

Given that some (large) merchants maybe asking affiliate to reconfigure 301/302 redirects as a part of this change as well as provide a free boost to google-juice, I see another LMI style uprising if the networks keep pushing ahead with this trend.

Will more merchants push for branded links within the networks if there is a perception of SEO benefit? More importantly, will the networks have their hands tied to the merchant demands if some networks (ie Performics) are pushing ahead with branded links and making them a selling point for their own network?

I’m eager to see a ABW thread on this topic as well as insights from the super affiliate crowd. Make your voice heard, affiliates.

Coming Down from the Affiliate Summit at Jangro.com