Raffles

Everything is marketing content. The actual differentiation is between articles you know are marketing content and those you mistakenly don't know are marketing content.

For example, most affiliate clicks are valid for 14-30 days. If I can get you to click on any page of the Hilton website, even an information page such as the list of Gold benefits, I'll get paid for your Hilton bookings for the next couple of weeks unless you wipe your cookies.

coleslaw

What happens when a single user clicks through from multiple affiliates?

E.g. today I click through from HeadForPoints, tomorrow I click through from OneMileAtATime. The day after I make a booking. The payment goes to OMAAT?

HadesNL

Interesting!

it does pay to click as much "normal" links in the blogs aswell!
Glad i could help Ford as winner of best selling FS advisor so they could take the free TA FS trips !

sarcasm off *

i do have to admit i have always ended each session by clearing everything out of the browser,
glad i listened to the IT-guys ...

Adam1222

No, Im quite aware of how the business model works. The sentence I made at issue referred to different kinds of content in posts. It shouldn't be objectionable that there's a difference between a post that is a trip report or reporting on news, and a "new credit card bonus sign here." I agree that the line isn't as transparent in the industry as I'd prefer. But it's clearer to me, a reader with pretty good comprehension skills, on OMAAT than on TPG. But It seems like we're getting into semantics here and far afield from the point I actually made in order to argue, as often happens in this thread. Your assumption that I'm mistaken is mistaken and the point was pretty clear to those not looking to argue.

diburning

I don't know, but I'd like to imagine a behind-the-scenes affiliate marketing hunger games scenario

gpapadop

I don't know man, maybe, just maybe, the point was not that clear? :-)

ctownflyer

Correct, last click wins.

Adam1222

No, the point was clear. You chose to take isolated words from my point (which was answering someone's question about why others, like me, read the blog) to repost something unrelated you have been tweeting about over and over again. I'm pretty sure that readers of average comprehension, in this context, would not equate the reference to "non-marketing content" to posts about credit card bonuses.

​​​​​​It really shouldn't be objectionable that Ben writes some content on his blog about the industry and his own travel experiences, and that he is more knowledgeable than writers for TPG. One can acknowledge both this and that some posts are marketing junk written by ghostwriters. You may think the latter outweighs the former but that is a subjective judgment. I know the internet isn't good at nuance, but it seems this isn't a hard one.

kokonutz

When a salesperson is good enough, you don't even realize you're being sold to.

That's how I write blog articles - both for affiliate revenue on my travel blog as well as for sales conversions on my software website blog. Tell an interesting story or provide useful information with the sales pitch so subtly implied that the customer thinks the conversion is his or her idea! I don't this this is an official term, but I call it 'edu-marketing'.

But make no mistake, I'm not writing it to educate or entertain you -that may just turn out to be a side-effect. It's pure marketing/sales!

Adam1222

Yes, that is your business model. Yet, not every one of your posts is identical to each other. There is advertising, there is advertorial content. I'm not sure why you continue to fight this. There is a difference between Ben's post talking about his fight with a hotel manager in Greece and one extolling the Chase Ink offer. Not objectionable proposition, and no need to get pedantic about it

PES_B1

I find Simpleflying videos a better place to look for some industrial news instead of OMAAT or TPG, as Simpleflying posts more frequently and are more objective at least to myself.

gpapadop

I am not sure most of his new readers (those at 0/24 with Chase) acknowledge this, especially when he posts that he writes his own content.

I see his posts on Feedly and I am just blown away by the volume of his posts! I think OMAAT beats TPG in blog volume...which is insane. I wake up very early and check Feedly...and then an hour later I circle back and there were two new posts already on how to buy World of Hyatt points and how to save on IHG points with Amex offers! Marketing junk in other words...oh wait, just posted about a review of the LAX Alaska lounge...next post coming in an an hour on 8 Reasons to get that credit card that pays a fat affiliate commission

And on it goes...

oliver2002

Many have seen how simpleflying was sold to Valnet and are now aspiring to do the same

gpapadop

I go out for a run and boom:

7.43 am - Ritz-Carlton Portland Opening April 2023
8.24 am - 10 Things Delta Air Lines Does Well
8.37 am - Singapore Airlines Drops Perignon Champagne
9.06 am - Transfer Hotel Points To Aeroplan With 20% Bonus
9.35 am - Is A Lyft Pink Membership Worth It?

Outposting TPG I think....wow.

GUWonder

Could it be that feeding the baby who sleeps a lot facilitates such volume of contributions to the travel, miles and points blogosphere?