Quote:
Originally posted by Kimmykim
... you both miss one important factor in the equation.
If the sponsors don't pay the resellers then what the hell are the resellers going to do for money to pay for the bandwidth and other associated costs inherent to having this traffic follow them?
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You might want to think a little more about some of the "wisdom" that you promote and in this instance your logic is even more flawed than usual.
1. You are right that traffic would not cease to flow around the 'Net if affiliates were no longer used, but it would not find its way to sponsors' sites in the same proportions as today, unless, as now, it were directed to them.
So sponsors cannot simply get rid of affiliates: they would have to replace them. For all but the very small programs, that would be a logistical and cash-flow nightmare. They would have to find an effective and economic alternative to thousands and thousands of traffic sources that between them use a myriad techniques.
I doubt there are more than a handful with management and other necessary skills to even think about doing this. You could make it a little easier by not bringing your traffic sourcing in-house: there are several alternatives: brokers, SE's, etc. But who will provide the traffic for these options? Your former affiliates of course.
So nothing has changed except that by distancing themselves from the original traffic sources to which they can pretty much dictate terms, sponsors would now be dependent on a limited number of traffic providers. And thus in a weaker position.
2. The scenario you propose isn't much more likely than free sites vanishing. It might be one with a certain appeal to a few of the less realistic operators, but if they went for it, the main effect would be to place themselves at a disadvantage relative to their competitors.
3. Even if every sponsor that mattered got on board such a program, your other major flaw (unless I missed something), is that you appear to be assuming that the ditched affiliates will simply go away. Some likely would. Others would turn to generating traffic for brokers and the like. But a very large number would simply open up their own sites. It doesn't matter that most of these would be small. There would be thousands of them, all sucking up traffic that sponsors previously enjoyed.
4. For ambitious businesses in competitive areas, the affiliate model, properly and fully utilised, is the perfect response to the "democratic" nature of the Internet. The "heroes" of our business would be much better looking at whether they maximise the effectiveness of their affiliates, before they spend a moment contemplating the path you are suggesting.