|
The B&N affiliate fee on books is more complicated than them just ending it over free ebooks. They played with all kinds of things--letting some sites get affiliate fees for ebooks and some not (I know this because I was in one of the programs for a short time). But the thing with them is they arbitrarily say "this doesn't count." For example, gift cards. Nothing bought with a gift card counts--even if it's an item that normally counts. And if the person spends MORE than the gift card it must be a certain AMOUNT more than the gift card to count. Weird things like that. Some promos automatically didn't count--when they did some of their best promotions to get people to sign up for magazines and the like, or gave away 5 dollars if you bought this or that...don't count or counted only in a certain window, etc.
The bottom line for a lot of affiliates is that they want the advertising, but they really don't want to pay for it so they end up with rules that are very hard to track, rules that change, errors you have to report, etc. I'm not saying that Amazon hasn't changed the rules and cut what they pay--they have, but they are still one of the most reliable. And if you are posting things and trying to use the mechanism to make money, you have to go with what pays best.
The other advantage that Amazon has is that they sell high ticket items alongside books (and other hobby type things that someone might blog about.) So if cooking is my hobby, not only can I post recipes, I can post links to pans, grills, dishes, etc. If books are my hobby, I can link to ereaders, music and STILL make money off of pans if someone happens to buy a pan while they are there after clicking on a book link.
Other sites do offer a longer "cookie" such that I can earn money for up to 15 days after a person visited through my link. There are a few of those that are decent, but they have to offer the longer period because people's buying habits for those items are different (selling into a niche market).
|