Monetizing the web isn’t something that most consumers think about, but really, it is a necessity for a lot of online businesses to stay afloat. Since display and pop up ads seem to be the bane of everyone’s existence, they have had to look for other forms of earning online. One of those is affiliate marketing, and companies like Amazon and Apple have “mastered this art”. Google was on it a few years ago, left, and apparently now, they’re looking at going back into the game.
Reports are saying that the Google Play Store will be going into affiliate marketing soon, although things are at a very early stage right now. If you’re not familiar with this kind of marketing, it’s when you put a certain code on a product or service, and if people click on it and buy it, you’ll get a percentage (small, but hey, it’s still money) of the sale. Having this program for products on the Play Store means that Google’s partners can link to music, movies, and apps as well.
Back when Google Play Store was still known as the Android Market, there was an in-house Google Affiliate Network. But eventually, it was shut down once the store rebranded to its current iteration. Looks like they’ve had a change of heart, and according to sources, the affiliate program will be powered by Performance Horizon Group, which ironically, is the same thing that powers their arch rival, Apple’s iTunes affiliate program.
If you actually search for it, you’ll see that a lot of people have been requesting for such a program for the past 3 years, through blog posts and forum discussions. Right now, the Google Play Store is 70% behind the App Store in terms of revenue, so it might not have crossed their mind to restart the program. But let’s see now if this will actually fly, eventually.
VIA: 9 to 5 Google
Any news yet?