PR + Google's Site Reputation Abuse Policy
Vol. 177: Put that in your search bar and smoke it.
HelloZ
Friday, Friday, FriYAY! Not sure where the week went (actually), but here we are. Hope everyone’s feeling very productive, successful, valuable, all with an abundance of health and happiness.
My fridge door is filling up with holiday cards from friends, and I’ve also received some gifts from industry colleagues, which makes me feel beside myself with appreciation. I really love our community and I’m so thankful we’re all in this together! Many of you send me emails and notes about how I bring value into your (exploding) inboxes, and I’m telling you: I keep every single one in a separate folder. Thank you!
I’ll also get texts like this and BOY DO I WANT TO DELIVER ON THE ASKS:
So that’s what we’re doing here today, friendZ! If you’re interested in WTF is going on and you’re not a subscriber, it’s time to smash it up, baby!
LFG, people!
NewZ and ShowZ
“Family Guy” is headed back to Adult Swim, airing back-to-back episodes on weekdays from 10pm-11:30pm, beginning in 2025. The animated series was canceled by Fox in 1999 due to low ratings (WHICH IS INSANE), but reruns on Adult Swim brought the show back life in 2003. It’s popularity on cable helped prompt Fox to revive it in 2005, and the comedy is now its 23rd season (RIGHTFULLY SO).
Season two of AppleTV+’s “Surface” launches Friday, February 21. New episodes of the psychological thriller will follow on Fridays.
Mindy Kaling and Morris Chestnut will unveil the nominees for the 82nd Annual Golden Globes on Monday, December 9th on CBS. The awards ceremony takes place Sunday, January 5th.
Disney said it is refreshing its Disney+ Bundle, giving subscribers to the package full access to ESPN+ and Hulu content through the Disney+ app, and allowing consumers without the bundled offering to watch a limited selection of Hulu and ESPN programming. Disney Bundle subscribers that have ESPN+ have full access to its sports offerings within the Disney+ app, and Disney+ subscribers can watch live events such as the Australian Open, and “The Simpsons Funday Football” and ESPN shows like “Pardon The Interruption” and “College GameDay.” The company said more than 30 Hulu movies and series will be available, including the first season of “Shogun,” “Reservation Dogs” and “Dawn of the Planet of The Apes.” Say that 10 times fast. Does anyone else miss good ol’ cable?
Donald Trump’s first network interview since winning the election will be with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, scheduled to air on Sunday, December 8 on NBC. Viewers will get teasers of the talk beforehand – the interview will take place today, with highlights released across NBC News, NBS News Now and NBCNews.com.
Nominations for Critics Choice Awards were announced on Thursday, and FX/Hulu’s “Shogun” led the pack with six nominations, followed by ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” “Apple TV+’s “Disclaimer,” HBO/Max’s “Hacks” and “The Penguin,” and FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows,” with each collecting four nods. Not in the running for a fifth consecutive award for best talk show is HBO’s “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” because it was kicked out of the category.
ID’s “Murder Under the Friday Night Lights” kicks off with a special two-hour season premiere focused on the downfall of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez. ”Aaron Hernandez and the Untold Murders of Bristol” premieres Wednesday, January 8th at 9pm. Ah, bedtime stories for women everywhere.
Jamie Foxx will address his mysterious 2023 hospitalization in Netflix special “Jamie Foxx What Happened Was,” dropping Tuesday, December 10th. Am I the only one who didn’t even know this was a thing?
The lineup for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025” includes Carrie Underwood, Megan Moroney and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Dayanara Torres will return as co-host in Puerto Rico. The show kicks off a 8pm. Anyone else IN AWE that it’s going to be 2025?
ICYMI: Let’s Talk Rakuten Rewards
Do you already know about Rakuten and how you can be getting a sh*t ton of money back for any purchases you make? It’s literally affiliate marketing for the consumer’s benefit and I’m going to teach you how it works and how you can make it work for you. Literally.
Brands get on Rakuten Rewards and offer - let’s say - 10% commission.
Rakuten splits that commission with those of us who use the app/plugin, giving 5% cash back. So for a $100 purchase, Rakuten would get $10 commission and we would get $5 in our Rakuten bank, i.e. $5 off our purchase. Then, we receive a check for the amount in our bank.
There are several ways to use Rakuten:
If you’re shopping online from your phone, go to the the Rakuten App, and find the store or items you want to shop for. Since the Rakuten App takes you to the store, the conversion trigger is activated and your purchase will have the cash back.
If you’re shopping online from your computer, add the Rakuten extension to your browser so it automatically pops up to let you know that [this store] is offering % cash back. By clicking on the pop up, the conversion trigger is activated and your purchase with have the cash back.
If you’re shopping in store, the Rakuten app offers ways to activate the cash back.
4 . Fun Rakuten Strategy: Let’s say you need to buy your child a pair of Nike sneakers. You go to Rakuten.com or the app and search “Nike sneakers.” This way, you’ll see what stores are offering the most cash back. Do if Dick’s is giving you 12% cash back and the Nike store is giving 3% cash back, do you care where you’re buying the sneakers from? No! You care about the highest cash back.
Here for any questions on this! I encourage you to sign up with this link (I do get a referral fee because it’s an affiliate link, so thank you!) and once you sign up, you also share your own link with family and friends because HELLO YOU’RE AN INFLUENCER, BABE!
Drumrollllllll: Google Me This
The impacts of Google's Site Reputation Abuse policy are coming to light, and they’re not good. Site visibility for affiliate-related content and sites of major publishers, including Forbes, WSJ, CNN, Time, and Fortune, has dropped significantly. Analysts estimate that these publishers lost $7.5 million in potential traffic and passive revenue — and that’s just between September 12 and October 31.
We discussed some of this back in May of this year, where I broke down Google’s policy and position and some of the early reactions from publishers about the change. An excerpt from that post:
Basically, Google is saying that publishers that earned their reputations doing one kind of content cannot use their reputation authority to hawk a different kind. This is impacting everyone from large-scale news sites to lifestyle portals. Word on the street is it includes subdomains rented by major websites like CNN, USA Today, and the LA Times. And the general consensus is that it’s going to reach any pub that hosts a mix of original editorial content and third-party affiliate content, including coupon codes or promotional deals.
And Because I Always Have Zlata Thoughts
This relates to the Google happenings, and I always keep it real - you know this by now. PR done right is a rounded strategy that includes affiliate marketing. It’s not an affiliate marketing strategy that includes PR. So here goes: For the PR professionals and PR agencies saying that you “do affiliate marketing,” you probably don’t. You may “do affiliate marketing” as it benefits public relations and check off the box for your needs there, but if you’re missing out on an all-encompassing affiliate marketing management strategy for your client/brand, you’re not “doing affiliate marketing.” What’s more: if you’re offering “affiliate marketing services” and they’re only for the PR-side of things, you should be completely transparent with your client and educate them on the difference between what you’re offering and what else is available out there for them in terms of the opportunity to earn incremental revenue.
If you want to talk more about this, if you want to get yourself or agency trained in doing affiliate marketing, or if you want to work together in any capacity, I’m always available! Email me, or
Let’s continue to discuss WTF is happening, shall we?