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The Wall Street Journal wants a cut of your next online shopping spree.
According to a report in Axios, the storied financial newspaper will launch a new commerce website today called “Buy Side from WSJ.” Reviews of consumer products will live alongside links to buy them, with revenue made from referral links known in the industry as “affiliate marketing.”
The WSJ is just the latest media org to get in on what’s called affiliate revenue, a term for the commission made from featuring consumer products. A simple example: you’re reading an article about the 10 best electric shavers and it includes links to buy them on Amazon. If you click through and buy, the publisher you were reading gets a commission from a partner. (Amazon, Skimlinks, and Red Ventures are among Buy Side’s affiliate launch partners).
Buy Side will operate independently from the newsroom as a unique section of the WSJ website. Expect reviews of products that interest WSJ readers, more likely to be tie-sporting financial professionals than t-shirted tech millennials — that means quality commuter backpacks, office furniture, and financial products. The site launches amid an affiliate marketing lull, but long-term growth prospects are strong:
The New York Times bought consumer review site Wirecutter for $30 million in 2016 and by 2018 it was making $20 million in annual revenue. BDG (owner of Bustle, NYLON, TZR, and Elite Daily) and BuzzFeed, which has its own branded Amazon shop, are two other media companies with major affiliate marketing businesses.
Ad Blocker: Publishers rely on Google search to drive traffic to their affiliate articles — Buy Side won’t have a paywall like the regular WSJ, opening it up to more readers who arrive by click — but Google is cracking down. In the last year, the web giant began demoting affiliate articles that lacked original photography or a diverse mix of outbound links — though that may just breed some very poorly lit photos of new shaving kits.
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