Do you know what others in the affiliate marketing world are doing? If not, you might want to pay attention to all those in your industry so you can keep abreast of what is going on. Knowing what others are doing is a great tool for you to be fully informed of your industry for your publishers, but it is also great to know if there is maybe something you or your company are not doing and needs to possibly look at doing. Knowledge is power when keeping up with this industry. Don’t be the one left in the dust……

We’ve discussed the topic of Google’s presence in China a couple times, and it looks like it’s time to revisit the topic again.  It appears China has decided to renew its license with Google to continue using its search address Google.cn. In March, Google had begun redirecting search queries from China’s mainland to a version of its search engine that is not censored in Hong Kong.  Google stopped redirecting two weeks after the government indicated it would not renew its license if the company continued this practice.

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt commented at a news conference, “Our operations in China are completely at the discretion of the Chinese government.  I don’t want anyone to be confused about that.”

During the standoff with Beijing, Google did lose some of its search share to other rivals such as Baidu.com. Other Google services continue to be popular such as its email service, Gmail.  Other services provided by Google such as YouTube continue to be blocked by China.

Under the renewed license, Google.cn requires visitors to click on an image in order to be redirected to the Hong Kong site for web searches.  Music search features, product searches and translation services have also recently been made accessible from Google.cn itself recently.

It will be interesting to see if the new 2-click requirement for Google will restrict its commercial ability to make the ad revenue it has long profited from.

Forums – a great way to learn and get to know professionals in your niche. First time I read anything on a Forum I gave up after couple of threads, because of the aggressive and “no ending” fights going on in there. Hiding yourself in the Cyber Space under different names and start attacking anyone you feel like. Well, that’s still the case even in the best forums out there, but I guess that’s what helps creating the buzz. Together with the “exciting” and really “passionate” fights, you have the chance to meet very talented professionals that love the freedom of speech, and most likely can teach you more than any of the panelists from the trade shows you are going to. 

Some Forums are better than others, and I am not going to rank them here, because it’s very subjective, but for sure some can increase your level of adrenaline – WickedFire is just one example . One thing I can say for sure, go out there, check them out and learn from the Pros, as you will find many of them. 

Leadpile Lead Exchange (Marketplace or Affiliate Network) is definitely looking out there and learning from everyone. 

I will close this post with a quote: 

“The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.” Socrates