Using multiple sites in GAN

I chose to re-post this from a comments thread that exist in the Google Affiliate Network Blog so that I would not have to search for it if I ever had to. The source comes directly from one of the support members involved in the GAN blog: Bare in mind that these methods that I'm about paste onto this post could change due to the constant upgrades and improvements that GAN is going through. The date and time that these methods were given out was on July 15, 2008 8:32 AM by Google Affiliate Network Marketing.

Google Affiliate Network publishers can use as many sites as they like. However, ConnectCommerce only allows one site to be associated to each account.

You have three options to use multiple sites in Google Affiliate Network:

1) Create separate Google Affiliate Network accounts for each site you want to have advertiser links on. You will have to submit separate applications for each site you want a Google Affiliate Network account opened for.

2) Use member identification (MID) tracking.

MID tracking is a system where you give certain links separate codes so you can tell which site the click came from. MID tracking is necessary if you wish to keep track of commissions made from each site separately.

To utilize MID tracking, append your standard Google Affiliate Network tracking link with an additional URL parameter beginning with the characters mid=

For example, a standard Google Affiliate Network tracking link looks like:

http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/tp...000000000000000

where lid is the unique ID of the link assigned to you by Google Affiliate Network, and pubid is the unique number that identifies each affiliate publisher.

To use MID tracking, add the MID parameter (&mid=) to the end of the link, such as:

http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/tp...0000000&mid=xxx

where xxx = a unique identifier that corresponds to the website that you need to track separately. MID’s can be up to 256 characters long, and all special characters must be HTML encoded.

Publishers should not be passing any personally identifiable information (such as email address, social security number, banking information, etc.) in the MID field. If this is done, Google Affiliate Network will purge the information from our system and it will not be recoverable.

3) Use one Google Affiliate Network account. You would use the same link on all sites and track all activity in aggregate.

If you are going to use option 2 or 3, please also make sure to list all of the sites that are associated with your account in the "Publisher Site Description" section of your account profile in ConnectCommerce.

Google Affiliate Network's Official Blog!

It is very clear that the Google Affiliate Network (GAN) is pushing forward. I got an email this morning announcing the official launch of their blog:

http://googleaffiliatenetwork-blog.blogspot.com/

This is great news! I have noticed significant improvements with GAN in terms of user interface and new options available for its users in a publisher point of view. I'm sure it has been the same story in the advertiser's neck of the woods.

More about Google Affiliate Network can be found on my other post which is a compilation of various basic questions and answers that publishers like myself may have before or while using GAN's services:

http://bloggersvault.blogspot.com/2008/08/google-affiliate-network.html

I would also like to point out that the post is constantly updated as it also serves as a personal reference for me and my team with regards to the Google Affiliate Network program.

Google Affiliate Network

Now that the Google Referrals program (under Adsense) is coming to an end on the August of 2008, the rise of a new program/opportunity is emerging. This new program which is to somehow replace Google Referrals is called the Google Affiliate Network program.

This post will focus on the Google Affiliate Network program and highlight some of the questions and concerns that publishers may have which we hope to shed some light and answer some of these questions. Why you might ask? Well because my blog group intends to use this program and being a blogger/web developer ourselves, we know the hardships and hard work that go into these type of things. So with this in mind, we want to help others like us. You may have noticed our blog selection on our "Blog List" section on our page, well all of these blogs will eventually display Google Affiliate Network ads/links if they aren't already.

The concern is regarding "Google Affiliate Network" ads/links and how many of those ads/links are we allowed to put on a site. At the moment there is no Google help group for this program. As it develops, I foresee that it will eventually have a help group fully dedicated to the program.

Now then, I have been exchanging emails with the support team for the Google Affiliate Network program, they take a day or 2 to reply but they do reply with straight forward answers. This is what I found out (more questions/answers and updates will be added as we bump into them):
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The following answers are from the Affiliate Publisher Support team of the Google Affiliate Network program.

Question: How many Google Affiliate Networks ads/links are we allowed to put on a site?
Answer: You can generate and place as many Google Affiliate Network links as you wish. There is no limit and we do not tell you where exactly you must
place these ads on your site either.

Question: So is this still applicable regardless if I run Google Adsense ads on my site or not?
Answer: Yes, you can have Google AdSense ads alongside as MANY Google Affiliate Network ads as you like.

Question: I have some sites that also have AdBrite advertising and Chitika advertising....Could I use Google Affiliate Network ads/links together with them too? How about with any other advertising programs similar to AdBrite and Chitika for that matter?
Answer: You can advertise with any other network you choose. We do not have any terms that prohibit you from including links from other networks alongside Google Affiliate Network banners on your site.

Question: I have more than one site.... Can I display GAN ads/links from my single GAN account on all of them?
Answer: Google Affiliate Network publishers can use as many sites as they like.
Note: There are currently 3 options to use multiple sites in GAN. Methods are described in detail here.

Signed,
Affiliate Publisher Support
Google Affiliate Network
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The following questions and answers are from people like you and me, answer are not directly from the Affiliate Publisher Support, instead answers are from end users.

Question: Can I filter the kinds of ads/links I want?
Answer: Yes you can, simply navigate from the home page (default page after signing in to your account) and move your mouse over the "Get Links", then to "Newest Links", and finally to "All Advertisers". After clicking you will see a long list of the available advertisers open for applying, notice the "Narrow Results" section on the right hand side....this is where you can apply filtering rules to your choosing. (Just a note: interface may change in the future because of exciting new upgrades and expansion)
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(8/21/08 New!) Link to official Google Affiliate Network's Blog:
http://googleaffiliatenetwork-blog.blogspot.com/

Links to related articles:
www.affiliate-blogs.5staraffiliateprograms.com
www.revenews.com
www.problogger.net