Answered Question

morriss00...

M$1 March 03, 2009 08:36 PM

Should community websites, like Mahalo, participate in dynamic income streams as a result of recommendations by its participants?

I purchased a lot of CD's from Amazon as a result of recommendations from people who answered a question on Mahalo. I wish that a small cut (a nickle?) from each of these transactions had gone to Mahalo. I wonder if there is a way for this kind of activity to benefit the website where the recommendation took place. Wouldn't this benefit both community sites and commercial sites?

Interesting Question? Yes (1) No (0)

In Ecommerce |
|
Report |
Share

RSS

Best Answer Chosen by Asker

robbrown

March 03, 2009 08:50 PM

Currently, the Mahalo Terms of Service does not allow anyone to post affiliate links.

An affiliate is someone who makes money by refering you to products, services and information for sale. It's common on large message forums to see people recommend products for no other reason than to promote their affiliate codes to make money. It's a form of sales that I personally don't think is very nice.

But I get what you're saying... give back to the community sort of thing, right?

Technically, it would be possible for Mahalo to create a database of affiliate programs and in much the same way that they replace keywords with Mahalo directory links now, they could replace product references to include affiliate links.

This however is considered pretty "spammy" in the online marketing world.

I can't say for sure (because i don't work at Mahalo), but I think that they're focused on taking the high road. They honestly seem to want us the users to have a good experience here and are happy when we receive good information.

Asker's Rating:

• Thanks for answering. I think that I might be a little ahead of my time here. In the early 80's, I suggested a satellite filled with hard drives that people could store their data on. How's that for uploading?

Helpful Answer?

(2)

(0) Tip robbrown for this answer

Permalink | Report

morriss003

March 03, 2009 10:23 PM

Here is the question I asked.

http://www.mahalo.com/answers/rock/what-is-the-best-rock-and-roll-instrumental

What I am thinking of, is a way (in the future) for ideas and recommendations to automatically be tagged (perhaps by the browser) so that somehow when someone acts on the idea or recommendation, the tag associates the idea or recommendation with the buyer, the seller and the website where the buyer became associated with the tag. (Even I am having a hard time following this!) So the electronic transaction includes transferring a tiny amount of the funds to the website where the tagging took place. The seller benefits by an increased number of places where the item may be discussed.

Tip morriss003 for this comment

Report

Answer this Question

Ask a Question

Top of Page

Buy Mahalo Dollars with Credit Card or PayPal

Top Members

This Week All Time

buddawiggi
2nd Degree Black Belt
27543 Points
M$789.91 Earned
opher
Purple Belt
4443 Points
M$196.22 Earned
annelisle
Purple Belt
2997 Points
M$91.22 Earned

See All

Most Popular Tags

mahalo(1618)

twitter(953)

iphone(465)

music(461)

google(357)

food(321)

internet(305)

online(295)

beer(279)

money(262)

movies(258)

facebook(255)

apple(251)

aotd(235)

answers(227)

health(220)

video(208)

free(205)

dog(205)

windows(197)

See All

Welcome New Members

rhianee, November 29, 2009 12:47 PM
aziq, November 29, 2009 12:40 PM
kewlani, November 29, 2009 12:18 PM
kienchen, November 29, 2009 11:55 AM
honeycez, November 29, 2009 11:46 AM

Mahalo Dollars are the currency of Mahalo Answers.

Each Mahalo Dollar costs $1.

Once you earn more than 40 Mahalo Dollars, you can request to be paid via PayPal. Each Mahalo Dollar is currently worth $0.75 when paid out via PayPal. Learn More