# Affiliate programs and added value

Monday, January 27, 2014


Our [quality guidelines](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies) warn
against running a site with thin or
[scraped content](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/guidelines/scraped-content) without adding
substantial added value to the user. Recently, we've seen this behavior on many video sites,
particularly in the adult industry, but also elsewhere. These sites display content provided by an
[affiliate program](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies#thin-affiliate-pages)---the
same content that is available across hundreds or even thousands of other sites.


If your site syndicates content that's available elsewhere, a good question to ask is: "Does this
site provide significant added benefits that would make a user want to visit this site in search
results instead of the original source of the content?" If the answer is "No," the site may
frustrate searchers and violate our quality guidelines. As with any violation of our quality
guidelines, we may take action, including removal from our index, in order to maintain the quality
of our users' search results. If you have any questions about our guidelines, you can ask them in
our
[Webmaster Help Forum](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community).

Posted by [Chris Nelson](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelso), Search Quality Team