Time + a double americano always yields perspective.  Buzz from yesterday’s announcement seems to be around the tech aspects of Valueclick’s Commission Junction (CJ) unit, I aim to provide the business-focused skinny.

In a nutshell, this is a clear move away from mom-and-pop style affiliate marketing… and toward a more sophisticated, controlled model. 

What This Means for CJ Advertisers
CJ has decided that enough of its biggest advertisers care seriously about having broad affiliate control and restricting datafeed affiliates within the realm of search so as to warrant elimination of a good number of affiliates—the crapsite.com’s that tend to mangle product images and irritate the Sony’s and Nike’s of the world.  They also (and this is key) irritate Google to no end. 

For years now this issue has been burning among retailers as they’ve come under increasing pressure from OEM (original equipment manufacturer) brands to “clean up” their distribution network (affiliates).  As OEM brands have, themselves, explored selling direct they’ve explored search engines… and noticed that affiliates have flooded the market with their products.  Pricing, product description, product images… much of what they see is out of date and not within corporate specifications and, hence, stresses relationships with retailers who turned affiliates loose within search in an effort to sell, sell, sell.  Until now, retailers had no recourse whatsoever beyond turning off affiliate accounts.  The World Wide Web is a very permanent place with links and product information remaining intact.

What This Means for CJ / Affiliate Networks
This is a BIG win for Commission Junction and, in fact, all affiliate networks that cater to clients suffering from the above described problem.  CJ is eliminating most of the existing poorly-executed affiliate sites AND pleasing Google.  Two birds, one stone.  Quite literally this happens overnight in June as the HTML links go dark.  The new network-provided Java script links give advertisers total control in the future if affiliates mis-behave.  Wow.  I think the network just added value.  I’ll sit down and shut up now! 

What This Means for Affiliates
Those I’ve spoken with suggest this means nearly absolutely nothing.  This change is designed to frustrate small mom-and-pop affiliates that networks like CJ have traditionally enjoyed offering to advertisers.  Tune in to communities like Abestweb.com and others and you’ll hear what CJ hoped and expected playing out—affiliates screaming bloody murder, promising to leave, actually taking down links in protest and flocking to companies like Shareasale, Kowabunga and others where affiliate marketing remains, as they see it, pure and free. 

So far affiliates are doing exactly what they should be doing.  Nothing if they’re valued partners to retailers; leaving in droves if they’re amateurs.

What This Means for the Industry
Starting in June, sun begins to set on the Glory Days of affiliate marketing—wherein any fool can form a partnership with a major name retailer, place ski gear from The North Face or plasma screens from Hitatchi on their $1.99 per month Web host.  Nail after nail is being driven into the coffin of “affiliate marketing Circa 1997.” Need more evidence?  Google has turned up the heat and I’m not talking about BigDaddy.  And I quote (via Peter Figueredo

“If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.  If a site doesn’t meet our quality guidelines, it may be blocked from the index.”

Kowabunga, Shareasale, LinkConnector, DirectTrack and even CJ’s arch enemy Azoogleads… they all stand to gain affiliates but it’s the quality of affiliates that matters here in my opinion.  For retailers and major name marketers these affiliates, and their poorly executed tactics, have proven nearly worthless… yet for smaller names perhaps not.  This is the theory that many of my peers put forward yet I question their value based on what they’ve already demonstrated—a lack of skill-based execution. 

In short, if you can’t push Star Wars DVD’s well enough for Walmart.com can you be expected to push Gaggia espresso machines for WholeLatteLove.com?

All of this said, this is bound to be frightening for advertisers at varying degrees.  I also wonder if CJ going to clamp down on paid search affiliates or not.  I sense the answer to that is mostly no as too much revenue flows through them without much retailer resistance.  A lot of revenue does not flow through sites that have used product data feeds and executed poorly.  They’re a PR problem for the networks and an OEM problem for the retailers.