TUTORIAL – Amazon Associates: Three Ways Affiliated Sites Can Advertise To Adblock Plus Users

xcopfly — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:48:52 +0000

I recently discussed AdBlock Plus whoring itself out by trying to raise money through allowing “non-intrusive” ads, and instructions on how to fully cleanse the addon of its whitelist.

Even though I make use of Amazon ads on my site, I have no ethical problem with usage of Adblock Plus, nor can I understand “ethics” regarding the right to have two eyes. Some claim using Adblock Plus is “theft” based on logic even more ridiculous than the RIAA’s claim that either obtaining or purchasing music from RIAA-unapproved sources is “theft”.

And if Adblock Plus or its users find a way to bypass my tutorial – well, then, it’s my responsibility to come up with a new one.

Anyway, there are several ways for Web site owners using affiliate programs to reach users of Adblock Plus. This tutorial will focus on the Amazon affiliate program. NOTE: Be sure to follow your terms of use when taking into account this tutorial.

#1. HYPERLINKING YOUR CONTENT

By reading the introductory notes above, you’ve already seen this in action ) Here is an example of a post in a personal-journal-type blog:

I went to Stuart’s house yesterday, and watched Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. It was very funny, so I ordered it on Amazon.com. It was listed as “Temporarily out of stock” though, and I couldn’t wait. Then I found out both "Do America" and Volume 1 of the Mike Judge Collection were on sale at Wal-Mart, and decided to buy it there instead.

The code for the text links is generated from “Link to this page” on the Amazon Associates Link bar.

The referral link to the front page, used when I say “Amazon”, is:

http://www.amazon.com/?tag=xcoflco-20

(replace “xcoflo-20″ with your referral tag )

WARNING! Be sure not to over-do this as it makes your site look shady and will lower your rankings in the search engines.

This page has some tips on linking to certain things (comments, reviews, single products, etc…)

#2. TEXT UNDER ADS WITH SAME LINK

Adblock Plus users will see blotches of whitespace where your ads should be. However, you can simply place text under the ad to and hyperlink it to the same place.

For example:

Place the phrase “Buy Video Games at Amazon.com”, highlight it bold (or strong), and hyperlink it with the same link given in the banner:

Buy Video Games at Amazon.com

#3. SELF-HOST RELATED IMAGE

If you make use of Amazon’s Product Link banners, as I do on certain posts, Adblock Plus will remove the whole thing.

However, if you could combine a Referral Link with a self-hosted image, the advertising will still reach the visitor.

Take, for instance, the ad below for Sean Hannity’s Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama’s Radical Agenda:

An Adblock Plus user will not see that ad at all.

Here I have uploaded an image of the book, taken from Google Images, and scaled it down for page loading time using GIMP:

Buy from Amazon.com

I hope you enjoyed these tips, and remember, when it comes to your web site, the visitor is always right!

Funny dream the other night

xcopfly — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 02:07:32 +0000

I decided to auction a Taco Bell meal on eBay. People were bidding for this Taco Bell meal, and when they won, I shipped them just that – an actual taco. Soon the FDA came in, seized my stuff and fined me heavily. Then the talking heads got involved and turned it into a debate over the free market.

Here’s something even more bizarre from the New York gubernatorial debate:

The Rent is Too Damn High!

And as the taco became a TV debate about free market economics in my dream, Sean Hannity is on right now debating rent control in light of this debate. It’s actually great marketing, a catchy phrase – “The Rent is Too Damn High!” You can go to the official Web site and buy “The Rent is Too Damn High!” T-shirts.

“Conservative” Bill O’Reilly Doesn’t Care About The Constitution

xcopfly — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:30:25 +0000

As you probably don’t know, conservatism is about strict and often literal interpretation of the Constitution (Reagan, Goldwater). Unfortunately people like Bush, Cheney, the Kristols, Rumsfeld, Coulter, Hannity, and O’Reilly redefined the term to mean “Machiavellian” and “Corrupt” (with Bush’s policies being similar to FDR, Kennedy, and Johnson).

Watch Bill O’Reilly say “I Don’t Care About The Constitution”: