What's wrong with Affiliate Marketing?

In my journey learning all about Internet marketing, and Affiliate Marketing in particular, I've come across comments and actions on the part of those with Affiliate Programs that cast a negative shadow over the industry -- not a lot, but enough to write this blog to see what other people have experienced.

One comment I came across indicated that Google doesn't like Affiliate Marketing. Now, to me, Google is an integral part of our business; so why would they put up roadblocks that we have to work around to get our business to be successful? Apparently Google doesn't like a lot of affiliate links, and they will penalize you for having multiple links on a page or post and categorize you as Spam. This is anti-business and confusing to me, because the business model we're talking about here is legitimate. Are they confusing this with Multilevel Marketing?

Affiliate Marketing has the same business structure as a Manufacturer's Rep. You have an independent company, a product or service offered for sale, a marketing program, and the ultimate consumer. The Affiliate Marketer is part of the marketing program and represents the company and its products. The customer has to buy the product before the Affiliate gets a commission -- the basic structure of a good business model. This is repeatable and will succeed over time.

Multilevel Marketing, on the other hand, is organized around a program and is not an independent company, the products they "sell" are made specifically for the program, the marketing plan is based on getting other people into the program, and the consumer is buying the dream of financial independence. The real product is the dream. It's akin to chasing a rainbow -- you never get to the pot of gold. The only people who make any real money with MLM programs are the ones who start the program and then feed off of the other people's dreams. There's a huge moral challenge here. There is no legitimate business model and MLM will self-destruct in time (as planned).

So I can understand why Google might not like MLM. Let's hope Google's attitude about Affiliate Marketing will change over time so we can get on with business.

Another quandary that surfaced as I was looking for Affiliate Programs was that some I spoke with wanted to see how my website looked when it was completely built out and the volume of traffic I could generate. Again, that doesn't make sense. My website is centered around the Affiliated Partners and what products and services they provide; so building out my website depends on them as much as it does on my contribution. The logic here is as bad as "If the stock doesn't go up, don't buy it". Needless to say, I will keep looking for those Affiliated Partners that understand their part in the success of our joint effort. And if I run into this problem a lot, I will make it a crusade to change the attitude through education.

So, to my ultimate purpose, has anyone experienced any of what I've run into? Has it changed your view of the industry? Or, like me, has your experience convinced you that there's something worth doing to help people solve a problem or improve their lives and Affiliate Marketing is a legitimate path to that end?

To your success.

Ted

PS. I tried to insert an image (my signature) and was told that the image type was not allowed. I'm sure the answer is very simple, but I couldn't find it.