When iOS9 introduced ad blocker support for Safari, content creators worried about the end of advertising-supported content. In this transcript, Mark Mason explores what ad blockers mean for affiliate marketers, shares a clip from Leo Laporte and Om Malik discussing why affiliate marketing thrives when traditional ads falter, and covers a new Google Analytics feature for calculated metrics.
What You Will Learn in This Episode
- Why iOS9 ad blockers are not doom and gloom for online marketers
- What Leo Laporte and Om Malik say about the future of affiliate marketing
- How The Wirecutter built a business on affiliate revenue with zero display ads
- Google Analytics Calculated Metrics and how to use them
Episode Summary
Internet Marketing Fortune Cookie
“Live, think, and act for today. Tomorrow may be too late.” Mark applies this to building your online business: take 20 minutes of action tonight. Those small sessions compound. Occasionally one turns into a two-hour juggernaut session. Over weeks and months, the results add up. And waiting carries real risk because markets change, competition increases, and opportunities expire.
iOS9 Ad Blockers and Affiliate Marketing
Mark plays a clip from This Week in Tech (Episode 522) featuring Om Malik and Leo Laporte discussing where advertising is headed. Their conclusion: the internet enables direct purchasing recommendations far more effectively than traditional display advertising. Om points to The Wirecutter as the prime example, a site that runs zero display ads and generates all its revenue from affiliate commissions by providing trustworthy product reviews.
The key insight from the clip: what makes The Wirecutter work is trust. Readers believe the reviews because the site takes every recommendation seriously. If readers cannot trust the content, they will not click. That is the foundation of successful affiliate marketing, whether display ads exist or not.
Mark contextualizes the concern: at the time, iOS devices accounted for 20% of all web traffic globally. Even if ad blockers became widespread on iOS, the impact on total ad revenue would be limited. And many users would never bother to install ad blocking apps. The bigger signal was that the advertising industry had pushed too far with intrusive ads, and the market was correcting.
Google Analytics Calculated Metrics
Mark covers a then-new Google Analytics feature: Calculated Metrics. This allowed users to create custom metrics by combining existing ones with math. For example, dividing revenue by users to create a Revenue Per User metric. If traffic increases but Revenue Per User drops, you may have a conversion problem. If you are paying more per lead but Revenue Per User is climbing, the higher cost is justified.
What Has Changed Since This Episode
Mark recorded this in November 2015.
Ad blocking went mainstream, and the industry adapted. Ad blocker usage grew significantly after iOS9, and Google Chrome eventually built in its own ad blocker targeting the most intrusive formats. The advertising industry responded with less intrusive formats, native advertising, and sponsored content. Many publishers moved to subscription or membership models alongside (or instead of) advertising.
The Wirecutter was acquired by The New York Times. In 2016, The New York Times bought The Wirecutter for approximately $30 million, validating the affiliate-only business model that Om and Leo praised. It remains one of the most successful examples of review-based affiliate marketing.
Google Analytics was replaced by GA4. Google sunset Universal Analytics in 2023 and replaced it with Google Analytics 4, a fundamentally different platform with event-based tracking, cross-platform measurement, and machine learning-powered insights. The concept of calculated metrics still exists but works differently in GA4's explore and reporting interface.
Affiliate marketing has grown substantially. The prediction that affiliate marketing would thrive even as display advertising faced pressure has proven correct. Affiliate marketing spending in the US has grown to over $10 billion annually. The model works because it aligns incentives: publishers are rewarded for genuine recommendations that lead to purchases.
Resources Mentioned
- The Wirecutter (now NYT Wirecutter) — affiliate-only product review site
- This Week in Tech, Episode 522
- LNIM Podcast
Related Episodes
Listen and Subscribe
Listen to Late Night Internet Marketing on Apple Podcasts or subscribe at latenightim.com/internet-marketing-podcast/. Have a question for Mark? Call the digital recorder at 214-444-8655 or drop a comment below.
