Google Affiliate Network

So a significant move today for Google with the rebranding of the Performics Affiliate operations as 'Google Affiliate Network'. It's not totally unexpected and certainly had seemed to be on the cards for a while, but what seems slightly surprising is that Google are associating themselves with that most dirty of phrases 'affiliate' - I would have thought they would have tried to differentiate the affiliate side of the branding or not used 'Google' as the main asset of the brand. It certainly is suprising to see the words 'Google' and 'Affiliate' sitting quite so comfortably on a logo!

In terms of what this means for the industry then no doubt many affiliates will think that this is the start of the slippery slope for their business models and the traditional network, affiliate and even agency models. I agree to a certain extent but think there is a big enough pie for all comers to have a slice. The obvious convergence plan for Google's technologies; Adsense, Adwords, Affiliate Network, CheckOut, Analytics and display activity with DoubleClick integration will benefit advertisers in the long run. The holy grail for nearly all online marketers is a ratifiable and comfortable 360 degree view of the customer, which channel / medium is contributing to the sale and in which order - back to the old queston of where is the money best spent? A burgeoning affiliate offering from Google that offers a merchant:

1) A new publisher base
2) A different approach to account management from the traditional networks
3) Cost and scale benefits with other Google products or beta projects
4) A 360 degree view of the customer through; organic search, paid search, CPM activity, content network and also CPA affiliate activity
5) 100% ratifiable stats from Google Analytics

Will be quite hard for most merchants not to at least consider. Ultimately the majority of online advertisers are still looking for more comfort about how they're splitting their spend. In many cases it will be good news for affiliates, with better stats around the true incremental value of affiliate activity then publishers might not be so readily cut out of the mix (or have commissions reduced) as they are at the moment - a theme explored by this rallying cry for affiliates to show their true worth in times of budget cuts.

It's an interesting and logical development but i'd be more worried if I was network side, how do you possibly compete with the Google full service arsenal? BTW Has anyone any thoughts on when this will be coming to the UK market?