Amazon stock on Google

[James]

Hi

We've been discussing on various threads how is it that books for sale on Amazon often appear very high in Google's results page.

Do they send a list of their stock to Google? Does Google's spider know how to index their database?

I offer a new theory:

URLs from fan sites to Amazon using affiliation agreements pushes the Amazon stock URL further up the Page Rank

Example: Yesterday I was trying to find some information on The Godfather movie, for a work presentation.

I did a search on Google for "The Godfather" (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22the+godfather%22&meta=) **(OOPS - Forum has ruined the URL, click on the DID YOU MEAN ... URL when page is displayed)

The Amazon stock is the top result, not what I was expecting. But when you look at some of the lower hits, they are fan sites and individual homepages that URL to Amazon, usually because the site owner has an Affiliate Agreement with Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/subst/associates/join/associates.html/ref=cs_nav_bn_as/202-1863509-7486228). ** THIS URL RUINED TOO!

This not only generates more income for Amazon, but the more URLs to a product, the higher Amazon's product info is pushed up the Google Page Rank and thus the higher in the Google results page!

QED I think, but what does everyone else think?

[Tom]

Good thinking - super theory - excellent reason for having an affiliate scheme. But how do you explain the comparable success of Kelkoo and Dealtime? They both come up on the first page of Google returns for a search on UK Microwave Sharp - and the returns seem to be other price comparison sites.

[James]

Perhaps it's not as straightforward as I think. I did a search on Google using the "Link to:" statement and using the Godfather link. Only one other site linked, for my theory to be correct you would expect more.

As for Kelkoo and Dealtime, I can't think, I can't see that they have affiliate schemes. (I notice both companies pay for sponsored links though - could there be some favouritism in the Page Rank too?)

[David]

I think there must be. As Tom says, Kelkoo always manage to get a top five placement for electrical products. There *must* be some behind-the-scenes deal going on.

[Tom]

Or it could be a consequence of Kelkoo paying so much money for sponsored links (eg Google Adwords). This is what, in the jargon, 'monetised Google's content' and it would not be surprising if they allowed something in the search calculations which favoured sponsors. Direct favouritism would be against Google company philosophy but it is very odd that you often get links to other search engines on Google SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages). If they are searching other SERPS then presumably they are also searching other engine's sponsored links, and Kelkoo keep coming up because of their investment. 'You get what you pay for'. Kelkoo, incidentally, was started by an ex-IBM Frenchman in 1999 and is now Europe's third largest eCommerce company (after eBay and Amazon European divisions). They have some kind of deal with MSN which presumably does them no harm.