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First off, if you are in competition with the big boys and trying to out rank well known businesses and other Websites that has more resources with masters in their field, then what is wrong with you? Do you think that trying to match wits with things like Amazon, Ebay, or other power houses is the right choice?
So this hole thing is who you are trying to compete with. You don't compete with Google. You stay up to date with their algorithms and know what it is that will start getting your rankings changed.
If you are even considering using Adwords and have the budget to work with, Know this. The competition is out for blood. They have people in the back ground that will do nothing but click on paid advertisements in the area of interest just to drive your cost so high that you have no choice to back down.
Adsense: never heard of anyone getting kick off if you follow the rules.
I use Adsence on a few Blogs and my main Website and the money just keeps growing in the background.
I don't or will never buy traffic or need to. Just to be clear, For the last 3 months, I almost wish the traffic would slow down a little.
Now lets get something straight.
If you are talking, and this subject is about Business then affiliate marketers are for one reason. To advertise the business that they are promoting. They are aloud to earn to advertise for the main Website. They are building that business up and building their rankings. They have nothing to do with Google or any other search engine as they have no access to the SEO that is already implanted in their Affiliate site.
Another point of interest you mentioned competing with Google.
Only search engines are in competition, not Website owners.
Search engines is the core of all activity on the internet and anything you do needs to stay with the growing of all changes.
Business are real and owned.
Affiliates are not business owners just advertisers for them.
So , before we talk any more, are you talking
Business owners or Affiliates.
They are not the same.
Here is one more before I go, and really I do have to get off my butt today.
There is this thing I see around here all the time and it reads: "these are the tools you need to be successful online and gives a list hope you will sign up for them.
I went throughout them and guess what. I don't need or use any of them.
So why am I, and my Website successful?
Mark,
FTR I am talking about both. AM *is* a business model. I am also not talking about setting out to compete with Amazon, Ebay, Google and the like. What I am pointing out is whether anyone likes it or not... the big boys are coming to your business and they want it all.
Additionally, As Bogdan pointed out. If your business "conflicts" with any part of the "G's" business, you can count on being penalized. What *I* want to point out is that just because things are "fine" "ok" "great" or whatever between a business and the "G" NOW... that may not always be the case.
I was one of G's early adopters. I built a huge store Selling RPG's (Role Playing Games) and their accessories in the late 1990's. The G listed my items highly and I made real good money shipping tangible goods. I eventually sold the store in 2001 just as G started "delisting" and penalizing smaller niche stores like this in favor of it's association with Amazon. Last time I spoke with the buyer (about 2003) sales were less than half what they had been and still dropping. He was barely making a profit as Amazon was getting all the "link love"
As far as your adsense comment, no one who wasn't cheating has been shut down. Let me just say that I have personal knowledge of more than a few that would contradict that statement. I'll add that given the obtuse nature of an adsense shut down notice how does anyone *know* what "rule" they violated to get shut down? and why not, if G is truly interested in the betterment of the internet, warn a publisher of the specific improper behavior and reinstate them once corrected instead of an instant permanent lifetime ban on both the site (or sites) and the site owner?
I am not interested in competing with G, or Bing or Yahoo of any other search engines. I am just trying to protect my corner of the net. If that makes me "totally nuts" then so be it.
I'll close with this; If all you had to do was build a site with good quality content to get a high SE rank. There wouldn't be a problem. But that isn't the case. Would you say that ALP doesn't have good quality content? yet G penalizes ALP because it has "too many incoming affiliate links". Is G in the Classified ad business? Is it an affiliate marketer? SO why Does G penalize ALP?
Just as a test, set up an affiliate program for your site that is doing so well in the SERPs. I would bet you that it drops, but for me to win your income would drop and you might not be able to cover the bet.
Use G as best you can. Just don't think of them as your buddy, partner or friend.
Because that would be totally nuts.