Amazon whats up with it?

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   Mikeydoesposted 13 years ago

   How long does the tracker last after someone clicks an Amazon ad?
   
   Are your sales down? and not just because of the google algo change

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   1. 96

      Glenn Stokposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      The answer to your first question... Amazon made a change months ago that leaves the tracking cookie only while the person is in their site. So that means if they click on an Amazon ad in your hub, they need to order in that session for you to get paid. If they end the browser session and go back to Amazon to order later, you don't get credit for it. Even if they do it within minutes.
      
      But that doesn't explain why your sales have dropped suddenly now. The answer to your second question was explained well by ryankett in his prior post.

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      1. 68

         bgamallposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         How convenient that they make this change and just afterwards the algo puts Amazon at the top of most search.
         
         
         This is just a money play. Big gets bigger in everything else, so why not in search. Greed is greed.

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         1. 96

            Glenn Stokposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            My opinion is that Google wants to make their search results work best for the person doing the search. That is the only way they will keep people coming back to do more searches. Any company in business for profit with focus on this. 
            
            If you are experiencing Amazon coming out on top for unrelated searches, my question is.. are you searching for products?  If so, then of course Amazon will come out on top a lot of the time.
            
            If you were actually searching for other things that are not sold by Amazon at competitive prices, then can you give me a few examples (post here) of searches you have done. I'm curious to research this.

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            1. 68

               bgamallposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Considering it is after the holidays, if you look at the max chart you will see that Amazon benefited by the algorithm change. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/amazon.com# What bothers me is that you don't get a better search. If you get a business with no content, only a store, how is that better?

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               1. 96

                  Glenn Stokposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  I agree with you that if you get a business with no content then this is useless. But Google is trying to reduce those results in searches.
                  
                  Problem is that they can't stop it if someone puts in a search query that is not lengthy enough. If you use just one or two words and it's a product of some kind, then Amazon may very well benefit from those searches. Amazon is full of product reviews, so that pushes them up for searches that contain only a product name. Hence the positive report for Amazon that you referenced.
                  
                  It's important for people using Google to know how to be more specific with their search arguments. Here's an example of what I mean...
                  
                  If you search for "humidifiers" Amazon was number two in the list when I tried it just now. But if you search for "How do humidifiers work" then you get a lot of helpful articles with descriptions of different types. I didn't find Amazon within the first few pages of search results that I checked.  See my point?

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                  1. 68

                     bgamallposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     But you have to look for product reviews. No product reviews or content on the first page: http://www.amazon.com/
                     
                     If you didn't know amazon you wouldn't even know they have product reviews.
                     
                     And another thing, their cookies are terrible. And I don't mean chocolate chip!

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                     1. 96

                        Glenn Stokposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Adding the word "reviews" to a google query will more than likely include Amazon. Google knows they have reviews. Are you saying you get the Amazon home page in the search results?  I never saw that.
                        
                        As for the cookies, I am getting more and more confused over this. I thought they go away when the session is terminated. But see my prior post and that of lrohner in this thread. I think lrohner has a better understanding of the Amazon cookie rules. Chocolate chips are sounding pretty good right now.

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                        1. 68

                           bgamallposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           Lol about the cookies. Yes, you do rarely go to the front page on Amazon, my bad. You usually do go to a page that has product reviews. But Amazon was built by affiliates, and this does seem like a betrayal although I think the cookies last 24 hours.
                           
                           That is a joke IMO.

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      2. 69

         lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Where did did get that idea? The Operating Agreement has not changed, and still reflects the 24-hour cookie.
         
         Subject to the exclusions set forth below, a “Qualifying Purchase” occurs when (a) a customer clicks through a Special Link on your site to the Amazon Site; (b) during a single Session that customer either (i) adds a Product to his or her shopping cart and places the order for that Product no later than 89 days following the customer’s initial click-through, (ii) purchases a Product via our 1-Click feature, or (iii) streams or downloads a Product from the Amazon Site if the Product is a Digital Product; and (c) the Product is shipped to or streamed or downloaded by, and paid for by, the customer.
         
         A “Session” begins when a customer clicks through a Special Link on your site to the Amazon Site and ends upon the first to occur of the following: (x) 24 hours elapses from the customer’s initial click-through; (y) the customer places an order for a Product that is not a Digital Product; or (z) the customer follows a link to the Amazon Site that is formatted with an Associate’s tag that is not assigned to you.

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         1. 96

            Glenn Stokposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            You may very well be right and I may be wrong. But your quote from the Agreement left out the text that follows. They go one to list all the exclusions. 
            
            One of the exclusions states that any product added to a customer’s Shopping Cart after expiration of the applicable Session is excluded from payment.
            
            My understanding is that if the browser window is closed the session is terminated. Does that mean that the session expired?  Or does it continue for the full 24 hours. I guess you may be right. It's up for interpretation.

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            1. 67

               AlanSwensonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               The session is 24hrs from the last time someone clicked your link, so if the click it and then 10hrs later click you link again the 24hrs starts over.  Or if they click your link and 10hrs later click someone else's your cookie is gone and theirs is in place for 24 hrs.  Of course if you manually clear all cookies they disappear but how many people do that?

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2. 95

   leahleflerposted 13 years ago

   My purchasing rate is way down: it used to be around 4% and now it is around 1%. I'm not sure what is up with that - I'm getting as many clicks, but fewer purchases.

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   1. 43

      Mikeydoesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Exact same..
      
      I'm not sure if my Illinois thing took effect.. But I have not sold a thing since I got the email..
      
      Thanks for the responses, all were helpful.

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      1. 93

         wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I certainly don't know why, but my Amazon is doing well.  I have already sold considerably more items (for more commission) than last month, and the conversion rate is nearly 9% which is very good for me.
         
         Having said that, my Amazon sales are, and have always been, low.  It could just be an anomaly and disappear tomorrow.  I hope not as it's producing about 1/3 of my income, but it could be.

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         1. 83

            CMHypnoposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            My conversion rate has gone way down to about 1.5%. Have made some sales this month, but nothing like February which was a very good month

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         2. 43

            Mikeydoesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Well this is more or less what I want to read.
            
            I am hoping I am just on a dry spell..

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3. 86

   Lily Roseposted 13 years ago

   I believe the tracker is 24 hours...

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4. 0

   ryankettposted 13 years ago

   The reason that your conversions have fallen really is simple. The Algorithm has only been rolled out in the US, thus you have only lost US traffic so far. The only traffic which buys from Amazon.com is US traffic, and therefore the vast majority of your clickers are probably from other countries.

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5. 80

   2besureposted 13 years ago

   I actually managed to make 5 sales on Amazon this month.  I am not sure what is going on, but I am grateful for the sales.

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6. 68

   Rosie2010posted 13 years ago

   Yes, my amazon sales this month is way down.  I don't sell a lot on amazon but last month I earned $13.56 and this month to date is 52 cents, and the month is almost over.

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7. 58

   sid_candidposted 13 years ago

   The situation is real bad for me. Forget about sales I did not have an amazon click for last 10 days.

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   1. 43

      Mikeydoesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I've been getting clicks like crazy....
      
      FINALLY GOT 4 sales, nothing huge, but maybe $5-$10 revenue. I was getting sales nearly every day last month. Uplifting.
      
      Still need to figure out my Illinois residency(aka Amazon revenue stream shut down). I do have a back up plan, which is Mark Knowles, but right now I am working on getting a new residency.

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      1. 63

         WoodsmensPostposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I hope you get that Illnois thing figured out quick Mikeydoes, I know you were doing well in the past from reading posts. This month I am at 3 sales hopefully I make the $10 payout by the end of the month. I am not sure but I think March tends to be a slow month. People said February but I saw no decrease for that month
         
         I looked at the link Mark was giving you, personally I would stay away from that kind of offer only as a last resort, even then I wouldn't take the offer, only because then it would be 3rd party so TOS could get sticky if you read Amazon, Adsense, and Hubpages do you really want another site involved? Just a thought. Keep the faith, I'll be watching for some good news on your new residency for amazon assoc.

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         1. 43

            Mikeydoesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you very much.
            
            I have been in Florida for a long time, so I am pretty sure I will get my residency here. I've been here all but 2-3 weeks this year so far
            
            We'll see thanks again for the advice.

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8. 65

   PaulaHenry1posted 13 years ago

   I am very sad to report that I have 1 sale for the month. This is a great drop from previous months. I am very discouraged. Google clicks are severely dropped as well.

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   1. 43

      Mikeydoesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Things are turning around. Just keep trucking I say. It only takes 1 shopping spree to get a nice chunk of money

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