You are so right, Neil, about the problem of focusing on influencers with a huge audience. I actually discourage that with our hotel merchants. I’d rather have 5,000 engaged readers who want to enjoy the same adventure as the blogger than have 1,000,000... show more

True, Sarah, it’s not hard to generate direct clicks, but it can be very difficult to generate quality direct clicks that actually become bookings rather than just hunting for information. In the meantime, it can become quite expensive, as most search e... show more

Thanks for sharing your concerns, Ian. Concerning your first example, “1. The consumer reads about the hotel on the blog, then goes to Google to search for the same hotel and ends up booking via an OTA,” there are a couple things to consider here. Firs... show more

Hi Des, that was definitely some years ago. By default our links are "no follow" so it hasnt been an issue for our affiliates for many years. Google has also learned a lot; they once operated the Google Affiliate Network (GAN) and learned to differentia... show more

Thanks for sharing that, Ian! I'd forgotten that was on TM. Though some of the links need to be updated, the principles are the same. Affiliate marketing enables travel writers to continue to earn from a post for years to come; it happens when someone ... show more