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Hi wikiHowians, I want to introduce you to an initiative that the team is coming back to after a few years: affiliate links. This concept was first tested in 2018, and now it’s back! You may have seen that we have a new staff member, Aaron W, who is going to be working primarily on this initiative.

An affiliate link is a link that can be seamlessly added into the wikiText of an article. It leads a reader to a site where they can find a service or purchase a product associated with the article. If they choose to purchase the item, then wikiHow receives a small payment as a thank you.

It may be surprising to know that we often get email requests about where to find particular items that are mentioned within articles, so affiliate links will help us better serve our readers. We can vet and verify sites before we add them to an article, and save readers that extra step of going back to Google to search for an item. It allows readers to have more confidence in getting to their desired outcome directly from wikiHow.

In my eyes, affiliate links align with wikiHow’s mission, and the benefits of having such links are two-fold:

  1. We help readers complete the task they were looking for help with, including knowing where to find certain products or services.
  2. We can reduce our reliance on other forms of advertising, while still ensuring unrestricted access to all of our articles.

The team is excited to invest in this area, because it allows us to further our mission and helps us grow and thrive. Just like advertisements, this is a proven way to help sustain our company.

So, if you see any edits with the summary “wikiHaus edit - please do not revert” then please check it over and mark it as patrolled so we can work together on this project!

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I watch some people on YouTube that do this when they review products. I think that it’s a great idea where everyone wins. Readers find the product they want, and wikiHow makes money.:money_mouth_face:

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I’ve seen quite a few edits around the site- thanks for letting us know:slight_smile:

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Yay! Well done Aaron W. Thanks Jayne for letting us know.:slight_smile:

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Not sure if this has anything to do with it- I’ve been seeing a lot of intro changes recently by staff

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@SkiC these introduction edits are a continuation of edits I mentioned in November that are focusing on reader intent, but are not related to this particular initiative:slight_smile:

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There’s a now an account for this initative.:slightly_smiling_face:

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Hi there! Okay, I’m being very honest, I have to say I, personally, don’t really like affiliate links. I mean I totally see there’s a great reason behind this, that the team’s got a really great goal in mind, and that wikiHow, just like any other organization needs money. I know this’ll help many readers get all they need right from wikiHow. I can’t say I dislike this initiative, but here’s what I feel:

We’ve got pretty strict Brand Name and External Links Guidelines, so wouldn’t affiliate links end up promoting certain products? I mean I’m 100% sure we won’t be adding links to spammy products, but I’d probably still consider such links a partial – very important, only partial – violation of the Brand Name Guidelines. This really concerns me.

Also, I have a question: Many (or I think most) websites with affiliate links have a note that says something like “We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission.” Will we have that too? If yes, where in an article? Like after the intro, or where? Just curious:slight_smile:

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Thanks for sharing your feedback, Butterfly. Although I can appreciate where you’re coming from with regard to guidelines and policies, I think it’s also important to remember that our guidelines aren’t intended to limit the ability of wikiHow to support itself. We also run advertisements, which could technically be considered against policy as well, but they are an integral part of us supporting ourselves and making wikiHow possible:slight_smile:

And yes, we will have a disclaimer at the very top of the page on any article that has an affiliate link that says “This page includes affiliate links. If you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission.” Not only is it a legal requirement, it’s a part of being open and upfront to our readers.

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Oh, and I wasn’t aware that having such a disclaimer was a legal requirement, so I asked. Thanks for letting me know! Thinking from a new perspective, I feel affiliate links are a good initiative, where everyone gets what they want:slight_smile:

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