Can Google Be An Affiliate? Let's Look At Google Sales Page

We have been reading about Google becoming an affiliate (which we are going to refer as Google sales because they are directly or indirectly trying to sell something), and that kinda intrigued us. Because we have been told to be successful in affiliate selling:

you need to nurture an niche audience
content and lots of it
have an email list- or at least be on social
did we mention that you cant sell...you need trust first.

So then word on the street states that Google is acting like companies like Honey. Giving discounts to searchers. So on a cell device it will look like this:

Now we have no idea what is working for Google. Are people clicking on their search results? We just don't know. But we can look into what could be happening.

According to HelloPartners it should look like this:

"The discount page can be accessed by searching for “shop deals” in Google. You can also search for particular categories, such as “shop fridge deals’, to tailor your results. It’s not clear if it works alongside the classic “brand + discount” search terms. Currently, this feature appears to be in the process of a rollout, or only available in certain areas, as it is not widely accessible. Chrome is getting an update too. When a user clicks ‘new tab’, their recently viewed products will appear on the screen accompanied by discounts found by Google. This is called the ‘Resume Browsing’ card."

So at the present time this would highly affect coupon and sales hunters. Which, if that was what you are using for SEO and is a keystone to your promotional efforts then you might see a dip in your sales.

Google is moving into #AffiliateMarketing with features like ‘Shop Deals’ & in-search discounts! What does this mean for traditional affiliates? 🛍️#Google https://t.co/NrzgWGRAQL
— Dominic (@MyJasonera) October 27, 2024

What does Google Sales "affiliate" look like?

So I opened up Firefox and then put into the search "Nike running shoes deals". I am using a computer and I am in Canada. So this came up:

According to the information on the page given by Google (just the first page), this is what it all means:

The horizontal row of pictures are sponsored- according to Google, these are ads.
under this we have 6 search placements
Popular products- which are not ads. These have scroll through pictures, ratings, shipping info, discount information. You can also click for more products

then 4 more search engine placements
3 Sponsored listing looking like SEO placements

Thought highlights

Nike comes up tops with the top 5 spots in SEO, a competitor is 6th
Nike is not within any of the sponsored top bar at all, its all competitors
Nike official comes up in all of the Popular Products area
Nike comes up in 2 out of the 4 SEO listings
Nike does not come up in the sponsored content at the bottom of the page.

So we have to ask the question, why does Nike, who we really want in our search, only (really) comes up in the SEO rather than the paid placements? We have theories, but they will come later.

When we click on the 3 dots by the side of some of the placements, Google Sales tells us a little more:

Clicking on the first SEO Nike placement, Google Sales has figured out that, even though we have asked for deals, the webpage brought up is called "sales" which Google states is related to our search term. It also states that Nike has multiple pages with this "sales" term.
Oddly enough title and description don't always match. So one of the pages is called "Running Shoes and Trainers" with a description of: "Road Road racing. Trail Running Athletics. Sale & OffersSale. GenderMenWomen Unisex. KidsBoysGirls. Shop By Price $0 - $74 $74 - $150 $150 - $220"
Google uses Wiki as a source for "about the company" rather than the homepage description
Footlocker is the last of the first 6 SEO placements. Their title is: Sales Nike Running Shoes" with description of: "Shop the latest selection of Sale Nike Running Shoes at Foot Locker. Find the hottest sneaker drops from brands like Jordan, Nike, ...". According to Google, the page has Nike, Running and Shoes that flagged it, but also search has figured that "sport and sale" are also helpful terms.

But there is more...

But then we have "refine results" which can be found through the menu button

This takes us to an areas which, could be a little bit more open to the audience rather than tucked away- assuming that we know what the menu button means. So could the menu button name change per search term that we enter? So why not "customize your Nike running shoe"? Anything but just "menu".

Anyway, this is what it looks like:

You have to agree "menu" is not the best of terms here right? When we first saw this I was like, wow, that is a game changer. It is really good and something that people want.

One thing that is bad is that if you choose something on the menu it highlights in blue at the top of search, thats fine. But if you click on the blue button to dehighlight/ revert back then the menu disappears.

What is smart is that when the menu options are clicked upon, it also changes the search results:

Is this an affiliate killer, or how can Google Sales become better?

At the present moment, no. But there are some things to start to think about:

This is tweak and figure out stage for Google. They ar going to get tons of data from this and due to that data will be able to refine results and remove away. That is why I stated what platform I was using and which country I was using it in. Amazon is well known to trial certain functions in certain zones and roll out to others if helpful. People balked at Android, but it is now super popular.
Amazon is the main problem to Google rather than the affiliate. Amazon has taken over Google for sales search a while ago. In other words, people are bypassing Google and going straight to Amazon to search and buy. Which is quite ironic as Amazon used Google and still does to promote its products. Amazon is funnelling Google traffic and it flows through a system that gets a ton of repeated purchases. Something which Google might not be achieving. As you have to ask yourself, why do I need Google to buy something when I can go straight to the manufacturer themselves?
This might be something that brands and Google need to chat about. Nikes "competitors" are roughly their sales branch. They are selling Nike products. So my thought would be, why would Nike care if they are top sponsored or not- let other companies compete for keywords and they still sell products. However Nike could be making more on SEO anyway. It is also a mention that it is "free traffic" but if Nike could find a way to hit everyone with a discount coupon or even a sign up. They too will start to get repeat business from free search on Google, just like Amazon.
It seems like reputation and company brand takes top slots in search rather than large content websites especially if the search is very targeted to that brand. But the brand must also have "deals" or "sales" if those are the terms being searched for- or very related to the search terms. When I put into search "running shoes" then Google doesn't bring up Nike. It brings up everyone else- other running shoe manufacturers and also content websites. This is also the same with the sponsored sections- its whoever is bidding more/ having the best click through stats. So on the first page there is The New York Times. On the "People Also Ask" you get predominately more niche content websites. But it is odd to see that the New York Times is classed on the first page over a specific sports shoes content website. But again, brand and credibility must play a part here.
When the keyword is non-specific there seems to be more SEO placement- 8 with one sponsored SEO look a like link before the first spot. Then questions and popular products then 2 SEO placements.

What now?

This is not going to stop. Other companies are going to join in to cut out the "middle man" in some way shape or form. If allowed, then brands are going to deal with other brands. What is to stop Nike from offering Amazon a specific line of product? Or why can't Nike start to offer software widgets, similar to the Google menu for affiliates/ influencers to use on their own sites and promotional materials?

What it does show is that Google, at the present time, has keys to traffic but those traffic streams can and will, over time, go towards the brands if they are hoovering up the traffic that comes to their sites.

Google is in a good position to let people know about "information" and to try and forge deals with companies so that Google gets a percentage of sales that it sends to those companies rather than just ad placement. But if Google sends someone then why should people use Google again, why not just go straight to that company? That is the question that should have an answer. Because Amazon is showing companies what happens when they focus their energies on customer acquisition.

As an affiliate with my own website I would:

be doing my very best to create a content website with special focus on the customer- not in trying to get the sale
trying to keep the customer wherever I could.
I would try to get deals with brands
discuss with influencers how you could synergise
become a brand and become the go-to source of information that your chosen brand can not do. Check out StarWars Theory in how this can be done

Google Sales though is difficult because of Google itself:

Google is not really associated with sales. Android is associated with the cell phone- but it is a Google company.
Google can not promote its own products too much through their own search- they got told off by promoting Google Maps. Google is big, so any foray into roughly anything online is going to be scrutinized. If Google leans favour to one company over another on a platform used by all then that could be unfair.

What is good is the actual Google brand (so far). If Google created/ bought a website that was dedicated to deals then that would be the step in the right direction. You now have the Google brand behind the sales. Then that sales site would be separate but associated. Trust would increase.

Now what would make it a better entity is if Google could:

could brands compete to have the lowest prices? Amazon is succeeding because it has taken away some of that brand power. Google is still needed by brands but that shift is coming. So it needs to be able to become more enticing and thus less dependent upon brands and make them become dependent on Google Sales.
Make Adsense and Ads in general more appealing to websites. Do deals with influencers and content websites- if not already. Give them separate tools for their websites. Customize that menu tool for websites before brands do. Take websites by the hand and explain how to increase their Ad revenue- be specific. Remember this is customer focused times. A picture of good Adsense placement is not cutting it now.
Google did this in the past but why not affiliate links in their Ads? This could just be given to cream of the crop sites, but taking the set-up and "backend" aspects of affiliate sales is perfect- it is also an increase in that trust factor
have exclusive brands and sales
guarantee delivery and be free- by dropping some of the commission and partnering with brands it could use their infrastructure
offer reduced pricing for special brands within the Google selection of tools, from email, phone to Ads

As always we wish Google Sales all the best. Check out more online studies here. Jasonera blog can be found here. Affiliate articles can be found here.