After a two-week pause in adding new members, on Thursday evening Google e-mailed a number of affiliates that sell Google eBooks, including independent booksellers, and announced that they are being dropped from the program. Their affiliate status will end on Thursday, March 15 and all links will be deactivated. Google eBooks partners such as the American Booksellers Association are not affected by the decision, which comes after an evaluation of sales.
According to a Google spokesperson, “We are constantly evaluating our Google eBook affiliate program, searching for the best ways to create value for our partners and users. With our most recent evaluation, we’ve decided to narrow the scope of the program to a smaller number of partners to create a better experience for our customers.” Google declined to answer questions regarding the number of affiliates that have been cut or the dollar-amount that affiliates are expected to do.
Not all Google affiliates are affected by the decision, and Google says that it will add affiliates, but only on an invitation basis. Booksellers who want to become a Google affiliate or want to contest the decision to be delinked can contact Google at ebooks-affiliates@google.com.
