Version 2.5 of the Associate-O-Matic store builder is now available. The new release features enhanced control of the home page (more formats including single item and browse node, additional tabs), direct support for mod_rewrite to aid in search engine optimization, reporting, and improved caching.
Two versions of Associate-O-Matic are available. The full version lists for $99 and can be used for one or more sites. The lite version is free, with the proviso that 10% of the click traffic is sent to the Associate-O-Matic account.
With the release of Associate-o-matic 2.5, it appears that we can look forward to seeing more sites which are little more than thinly wrapped covers over the Amazon database.
Google will have even more incentive to push Amazon associates down the search engine rankings with each new copycat site that appears.
This growing trend lessens the potential success of associates who actually put effort into their sites. Will this ultimately reduce the value of the associates program to webmasters and Amazon alike?
Kudos to Gyrofly for coming up with a way to milk the associate system to death though!
Posted by: Chris | October 04, 2005 at 11:46 PM
And for those of you like Chris that like to reinvent the wheel over and over and over and get mad at people that buy a wheel ... have at it. Most people aren't "techies" and like to work at as high of a level as possible. I mean, why else would VB exist? So I think it is great. Not it might not be the best solution for everyone, but it definately has it's place. So keep up the good work gyrofly!
Posted by: sl0cb | November 30, 2005 at 09:12 AM