Today's SEM quote comes from Mitch Joel, and it's all about Google Apps: Mitch says:

I am lazy (there, I said it). I spend my time doing everything I can to make my own life increasingly easier. The reality is that Google empowers me to do this.

It's just too bad that Google hasn't been able to do the same thing for affiliate marketers that it has for both end-users and advertisers. Google Adsense scarcely converts at a level that's sufficient to survive as an affiliate marketer. While banner blindness probably hurts Google block-ads than any other format (except maybe the fart button), Google search boxes are often ignored in favor of the search bar built into the user's browser.

Then again, Google has built an empire catering to advertisers, not affiliates. It's not surprising, then, that Google neglects its network of affiliate in favor of those who are actually paying for the clicks. Nonetheless, the pattern is kind of strange. After all, without the network, the advertisers would have a lot less clicks to pay for.