Thin affiliate pages
Black hat. Against Google’s spam policies. Risks a manual action or a ranking drop. White, grey and black hat SEO compared
What are thin affiliate pages?
Thin affiliate pages are pages with affiliate links whose product descriptions and reviews are copied straight from the merchant or network, with no original content or added value. Google’s thin affiliation policy targets them, especially when they appear across networks of similar sites.
Affiliate marketing itself is fine. Google says being an affiliate is not a problem; the issue is pages that offer nothing beyond what the merchant already offers. A product review based on real testing, a comparison with original photos and data, or a buying guide with expert advice can all carry affiliate links and rank well.
Why thin affiliate pages matter for SEO
Affiliate sites live on search traffic, so thin pages are a direct risk to income. Google’s systems also favour pages showing first-hand experience, a part of E-E-A-T.
The white hat alternative is to add information gain: hands-on testing, original photos, measurements, pros and cons, who it suits, and honest comparisons. Mark affiliate links with rel="sponsored".
Risks of thin affiliate pages
- A “Thin content with little or no added value” manual action.
- Algorithmic demotion, especially across sites built on the same template.
- Wasted effort: pages with only merchant copy rarely rank against the merchant itself.
- Lost affiliate revenue when the pages drop out of results.
How to fix thin affiliate pages
- Find pages whose main text matches the merchant’s description (search a sentence in quotes).
- Decide which pages are worth improving, based on impressions and clicks, and which to merge or remove.
- Add original content: testing notes, photos, specs you measured, comparisons, a clear verdict.
- Make the author and their experience visible.
- Mark affiliate links rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".
Thin affiliate pages example
A page titled “Best Coffee Grinder Review” with the manufacturer’s description pasted in, a stock photo, and a “Check price” button. Hundreds of similar pages on the site follow the same template for other products.
Thin affiliate pages FAQ
Does Google penalise affiliate sites?
No, not for being affiliates. It targets affiliate pages that add nothing beyond copied merchant content.
Do affiliate links need rel="sponsored"?
Google asks for affiliate links to be marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".
Related SEO terms
Thin content is a page with little or no useful content of its own, such as near-empty pages, copied text or doorway pages.
Scraped contentBlack hat
Scraped content is material copied from other sites and republished, with little or no change or added value, against Google’s scraping policy.
Information gain is the new, useful information a page adds beyond what other pages on the same topic already say.
E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness: the qualities Google’s quality raters look for in content.
rel="sponsored" is a link attribute that marks a link as paid, sponsored or an affiliate link, so it does not pass ranking credit.
Comparison pages compare two or more products or options side by side, such as “X vs Y” or “X alternatives”, to help people choose.