>I came away thinking if those were presented as affiliated links, that conversation could have been monetized in a mutually beneficial way.
replyI also ask LLMs for product recomendations. But the moment I suspect they are hidding the best items (not paying for the ad) to push the second best (not even talking about pushing shit as good products because they pay more) is the moment the LLM loses its value as recomender.
So the only way this can work fairly if Walmart, etc implements MCP/API?
replyHow do you know what recommendations you can trust from the LLM output?
replyYou don't, but if they recommend second best options with any frequency, you'll find out eventually.
replyThe trouble is that monetization and usefulness tend to be in conflict. It starts out as, show affiliate links if there are any. Then it turns into, prefer targets that we have affiliate agreements for. Then, don't show products unless we have affiliate agreements. Then, prioritize ones that give us more money. And on and on.
replyIf they want to capture some of the value they provide, they should do it the standard fashion where they directly capture value from me by having me pay.
Gemini does this, it has Google Shopping links.
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