In Episode 045, Mark interviews Andrew Hansen about whether affiliate marketing still works after Google's Panda and Penguin updates. Andrew presents evidence from his own post-update affiliate sites earning $300 to $3,000 per month and explains why the changes may actually make things easier for affiliates who adapt.
What You'll Learn in This Episode
- Why claims that affiliate marketing is dead after Google updates are unfounded
- Real earnings from affiliate sites built after Panda and Penguin
- How the shift to brand anchor text actually requires fewer backlinks to rank
- Why search engine traffic remains the highest-converting source for affiliates
Episode Show Notes
Mark introduces Andrew Hansen, a personal friend since 2007 and the creator of Niche Marketing on Crack, one of the early affiliate marketing training products. Andrew lives a location-independent lifestyle from London and recently spent three months in Thailand developing a new course.
The interview was recorded at 4 a.m. Dallas time to accommodate Andrew's GMT timezone. Mark frames the core question: can someone start brand new affiliate websites today and make money from them, or have the Google updates killed the opportunity?
Andrew's answer is unequivocal: starting from scratch with new domains and current methods, affiliate sites can be ranked and made profitable. He shares examples of sites built since September 2012, after all the major algorithm updates, earning between $300 and $3,000 monthly with minimal content and maintenance.
The full interview transcript is available in the companion post. Key topics include brand anchor text replacing keyword-rich anchors, LSI keyword ranking benefits, and concrete earnings data from post-update affiliate sites.
What's Changed Since This Episode
Mark recorded this in February 2013. The strategic insight that affiliate marketing is not dead remains true in 2026, though the execution standards are dramatically higher. Thin five-page affiliate sites rarely succeed now. Google's Helpful Content Updates and E-E-A-T framework require substantial, experience-backed content. The opportunity is real but demands more investment in quality.
Listen and Subscribe
Listen to Late Night Internet Marketing on Apple Podcasts or subscribe at latenightim.com/internet-marketing-podcast/.
Great episode Mark – enjoyed it. I like Andrew – he’s legit and his products I’ve purchased have been very solid. Without going into detail, I’m not a fan of some of what he promotes. IMO if you’re going to promote a weight loss product, make darn sure it’s a good one. There is SO much crap on the market that hypes and massively under-delivers. FTC folks in the U.S. will tell you alot of these companies are hacks.
Look at Resveratrol from a few years back. Promo companies were paying $50-80 to affiliates for customers and many of these said companies were producing products that were bogus.
So, you get an EMD, get in front of a hot product that’s paying $50/pop and more, and say “I’m making $1,000/mo. on this one site alone – can come across as misleading if you aren’t really careful. Just my 2 cents. Sorry to ramble a bit. Again – great show.
Thanks Kent! Interesting point. Male products are another example of things that are high commission but have other “drawbacks” from an affiliate standpoint.
My personal rule still applies for me: I choose not to promote anything that I can’t tell my mom or my pastor about.
Awesome! I’m stealing that line – haha.