I haven’t used it yet, but it looks really good
based on the videos. It looks like it will be
really helpful to all affiliates out there.

I mean, why wouldn’t it be really good, Chris had
two really, really good examples of software
to model it after in UnderCoverProfits and ClickFlipping.

In fact, I think the concepts Chris used to build
his stuff are going to become vitally important to
anyone who wants to be successful as an affiliate
online. If you don’t have software to do these
things for you, you’re basically dead.

It has become so tedious and time consuming finding
profitable affiliate programs that I believe only
affiliates with softwares like this will survive
in the future.

Having said that, and, in the spirit of WhatsCrapAndWhatsNot.com
I want to warn you of some problems you might encounter
after buying GCD (Google Cash Detective) or any
software that tells you it identifies which affiliate
programs are profitable:

1. Installing and maintaining a server
GCD runs on your own server that you have to pay for.
After 7 years of building web systems, I have come to
realize that softwares like this are not small, simple
programs to install/maintain/run.
Be sure you’re prepared to maintain your server and the
problems that might arise from running software like this.

2. Getting Banned From Google
If you search google too many times from a single
IP address too quickly, Google will ban you from
searching ever again. If software is server based (on
your own server, or desktop based, you need to know
google’s limits and be careful to not get banned.
If you get your server banned, your software is
basically worthless.

3. Google Changing Code
Google changes their html code on their search results
pages from time to time. When they do, software that is
dependant on Google’s code (like GCD) is very
likely to break on your server because it’s code will
need to be updated to match Googles changes (remember
“Good Keywords” and how it broke when Overture changed the
code in it’s results?)
When this happens, your software could be down for weeks while you
wait for your programmer to fix the code and for you to
download and re-install the software.

***(I know this is the case because over the course of 3
months Google has changed their code 2 times and we’ve
had to fix it at UCP. Fortunately for us and our customers,
it only takes us a few minutes to fix the code and everyone
is automatically updated. No Down Time.)***

4. Hidden Monthly Costs
If the software is gathering click data or cost per click (cpc)
data, beware of the costs to gather that data.
CPC data comes from the Google Adwords API, which takes
weeks to get access to (if google will give it to you) and
then costs you each time you look something up.

Just be sure to do your research before relying on data like this.
I’ve seen data like this (from google) cost as much as $0.25
per keyword. If you were to look up 500 keywords per month, it
could cost you $125/month to do that.

Also, just yesterday Google changed their API again breaking
many pieces of software that relied on their data.

5. Software Becoming Obsolete
Anytime you buy a piece of software, if it’s not updated, it
becomes obsolete. This is especially true with internet
based software.
If someone doesn’t have an incentive to update their software,
they let it sit and it becomes obsolete (remember Traffic Equalizer???).
When someone sells a one-time fee software, they don’t have
an incentive to improve the software. This is a huge risk
to a consumer, especially when the software is very expensive
up front.

You might also want to see if software you’re buying
will look at MSN and Yahoo, as well as Google. MSN
and Yahoo are almost always less competitive and easier
for you to make money.

Also, see if it’s going to look at international markets
for you. Remember what Chris said in DayJobKiller about
how profitable international markets are?

Just trying to keep you informed.

Now, UCP does do msn/yahoo tracking and international
tracking, and is constantly updated. Sales to UCP are
currently closed, but we are working through our waiting
list so if you are still interested, you might be able to
purchase UCP soon.

Remember, right now none of these programs are publicly
available. I haven’t used them. Do your research before
you buy and make sure you know what you’re getting. As they
become available, I’ll buy them and try to use them and let
you know what they do well and what their problems are so
you can make a better informed buying decision.

John
http://www.UnderCoverProfits.com