How much will the search engine shopping sites take away from affiliates?
IMRG has released a statement with its forecast for the 10-week run-up to Christmas pointing to a staggering £7 billion, which is almost double the figure recorded in 2004. That’s how Internet time goes!
Anyway, while any such optimistic predictions always make us feel good, there are a couple of recent announcements that we should take note of, if not anything else.
One, the relaunch of Yahoo shopping — the thing to note is the bargain center, which aggregates information on the best coupon deals from merchants. Obviously, something that will make coupon affiliates wary.
Second, MSN Shopping has tied up with Shopping.com (an eBay company….) to include results from the latter. Of course this relationship is an extension of what the two companies already share elsewhere. Some studies last year indicated the traffic pattern of search visitors first going to shopping comparison sites and then on to the merchant sites…. a move like this will most likely reduce one step.
It pays to be a bit concerned. Of course, we know that these sites have been around for a while, so it may seem quite natural to not pay too much attention. But the least we can do is to not be indifferent !
