Amazon Affiliate — A good source of income?

Last week, MIT Advertising Lab shared some stats on their Amazon Associate performance. Their blog features three hand-picked books every few weeks at the top of the site.

Many people use the Amazon Associate program and insert the recommended book widget into their blog sidebar. But you don’t hear much about how they’re converting, most likely because the majority of small sites that feature them don’t convert at all.

MIT is different. By displaying the books like they’re a part of the site and making them stand out, since November 2006, they’ve sold 116 books through their site. Yes, 116 books!

Even though Amazon only pays up to 8.5% of the book’s price, the amount that MIT has converted is still very impressive.

If you currently use Amazon’s affiliate program or have considered it, take a look at AdLab first and think of unique ways you can make relevant books stand out on your site.