YouTube appears to have put a sudden stop to affiliate marketing in its Shorts department. Due to an issue with spamming becoming too much in the short-form video content on the site, YouTube is putting a halt to all affiliate links.
Any links added to the descriptions of YouTube Shorts content will become unclickable from August 31st in an effort to end the chaos the “spam” is causing. This includes Shorts comments, Shorts descriptions and the vertical live feed. It follows a similar move on August 10th that removed banner links entirely from the Shorts department.
The spam links on the platform were sending users to dangerous content, such as malware and phishing scams, however, YouTube and indeed Google, YouTube’s owner, have procedures in place to detect and remove spam links. For instance, they had a problem with fan accounts spreading spam. YouTube has already cut spam by 35% from Q1 of 2022 to 2023 by tackling fan accounts with improvements to their impersonation channel detection.
To remove links altogether could be doing more damage to the brands and businesses around the spamming. The real problem is that this appears to be permanent.
YouTube has said that the ability to add links will come back, as of August 23rd, but these will be limited to links to other YouTube content. There will also be another space available on their profile where they can post links elsewhere.
Content links for Shorts are to be introduced in September. The idea is to make links in Shorts more intuitive and seamless and allow for cross-promotion. However, it is still limited to Shorts. There will be no way to link from Shorts content to anything outside of YouTube. The video platform has said that it believes that this would strengthen its Shorts eco-system.
The Impact on Affiliates?
This alternative isn’t likely to appeal to many affiliate marketers, who will have to play a game of telephone to get their target audience from the Shorts content to a YouTube video and then onto the affiliate link beyond YouTube. Marketers on the app will have their links confined to their profile, rather than available to click straight from the content.
This is going to be a problem as adding extra clicks to the customer’s journey is likely to affect affiliate marketing negatively, especially since they are typically paid on a PPC basis.
An option for creators on YouTube Shorts is to direct users from the content to their own profile where they can have a LinkTree bio, or an equivalent, directing users to various links beyond YouTube.
YouTube Shorts could have been a great avenue for affiliate marketing, the way TikTok has become, but their extreme measures to tackling spam might have put a stop to that.
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A HOME Depot employee has revealed the lengths that some thieves will go to steal merchandise, despite the store’s new anti-theft measures.
The leaders of some of the country’s biggest retail stores have been sounding the alarm about the growing problem of theft in recent years, leading to a slew of new efforts to crack down on crime.
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Customers have complained that some of these security changes are extremely inconvenient, like when stores decide to put a majority of their items behind lock and key.
But one retail worker has shared why stores like Home Depot must go the extra mile to protect their goods.
“I work at Home Depot. The amount of theft is staggering, we lock everything up, people still use crowbars, axes, anything to get it,” JP (@midwestblu) wrote on TikTok.
He showed viewers a security wire loosely blocking the removal of a large electrical appliance from a store shelf in the video.
Home Depot employees told The San Francisco Standard that they started seeing items get locked away in some stores in the Bay Area of California starting in January.
They said it started with power tools and more expensive gadgets, but now small items like gloves and cell phone chargers are locked away.
“It used to be big-ticket items, but now even the detergent is locked up,” one California staffer told local reporters.
Some staffers have criticized the measure.
“I can’t unlock hardware because I don’t have the code and they can’t unlock plumbing because only I have the code,” one employee said.
Home Depot’s vice president for asset protection, Scott Glenn, issued a warning about organized shoplifting and the growing theft problem in June.
“Organized retail crime is what I call theft for greed, not theft for need,” he told ABC News.
“I can tell you that in our world, we know that crime is increasing. We see it every day in our stores,” he said.
Earlier this year, he told CNBC that crime was spiking into the double digits.
Many of Glenn’s colleagues seem to agree.
“The country has a retail theft problem,” Home Depot CFO Richard McPhail told CNBC last month.
“We’re confident in our ability to mitigate and blunt that pressure, but that pressure certainly exists out there,” he said.
Home Depot CEO Ted Decker confirmed that the trend had become a big problem in retail to CNBC’s Squawk Box.
“This isn’t the random shoplifter anymore,” he said.
And the problem extends beyond a dip in profits, he added.
Two Home Depot employees were killed this year – Gary Rasor, 83, and Blake Mohs, 26 – in separate attempted theft incidents.
Organized retail crime has become a particularly difficult issue that has cost some national chains billions in losses.
A review by the National Retail Federation in 2022 found that organized retail crime is the main reason for shrinkage in stores when a retailer has fewer products than what is recorded in the books.
Retailers lost $94.5billion in 2021 from shrink – an increase of over $4billion from the year before, according to the survey.
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You be the judge: should my girlfriend stop monitoring me at the gym? The Guardian
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I’m a gym girl – trolls tell me to ‘stop lifting heavy’ and ‘be a lady,’ until they see me glammed up… The US SunView Full Coverage on Google News
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How to STOP Skipping Workouts – Practical Tips to Stay Motivated BOXROX
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With the S&P 500 (SPY) in free fall this past week, you may be tempted to steer clear of the markets all together. That would be a mistake, as volatile markets provide some of the best buying opportunities…but only if you know where to look. Read on to find out more.
I just read another email from a StockNews customer who says this volatile market has pushed them to the sidelines. And they will “Wait and See” to determine what to do next.
This is investing suicide.
Sorry…just no other way to say it. And yet, this is one of the most common responses by investors when times get tough.
I want to point out the insanity of this approach in the hopes to get people on a more successful investing path.
The Danger of “Wait and See”
On the surface, this seems so logical. To appreciate that the current market condition is rough. The path forward seems unclear. And thus you will wait and see what happens next to then plot your course forward.
Now the reality check…
Consider the wisdom and accuracy of this time-tested investment saying: “There is always a bull market somewhere.”
Or as my good friend JC Parets of AllStarCharts.com says “being in a bear market is a choice”.
Meaning you can be an investment sheep led off to slaughter with the masses. Or you can be smarter looking in the right places where profits can be made.
For example, it may surprise you to hear that over 2,000 stocks were in positive territory in 2022 even as the bear roared.
Even crazier is to learn that over 1,000 gained more than 50%.
The point is that you can make money if you know where to look. And thus it is NEVER the right time to be on the sidelines in “wait and see” mode.
This leads to the next obvious question…
Do You Know Where to Find Winning Trades REGARDLESS of Market Direction?
It’s OK to be honest. Because the vast majority of individual investors do not know the answer.
That is why the average investor does 37% worse than the S&P 500 as they succumb to emotions at all the wrong times…
Buy at the top from too much greed
Sell at the bottom from too much fear
Gladly the next section will provide you with some better solutions…
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As you can see there really is something here for every style of investor and every market condition.
And right now there are 49 hand picked trades across these 6 active trading newsletters that you can immediately access.
Plus 3 more fresh picks are coming Monday morning to start the new year on the right foot.
Truly this trial is the best way to experience all our active trading services.
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Wishing you a world of investment success!
Steve Reitmeister
…but everyone calls me Reity (pronounced “Righty”)
CEO, StockNews.com & Editor, Reitmeister Total Return
SPY shares . Year-to-date, SPY has gained 0.91%, versus a % rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.
About the Author: Steve Reitmeister
Steve is better known to the StockNews audience as “Reity”. Not only is he the CEO of the firm, but he also shares his 40 years of investment experience in the Reitmeister Total Return portfolio. Learn more about Reity’s background, along with links to his most recent articles and stock picks.
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