depends on your brand and what you're selling - you might want to have each of three affiliates marketing a different offer, such as '10 per cent off sale', 'buy this and get a thingy free', 'did you know we also sell…' and so on... it gives you more google shelf space at least. you'll also be more popular with the aff network, can have a little closed group of ppc affiliates working strategically for you on brand, and could get them to promise they'll re-invest some of their earnings in more generic traffic for the privilege. You might get taken out to lunch more too.

hi, Barry, here are a couple of ways you could handle it:

1. Specify that affiliates can't use your display URL. This basically means that they can appear alongside you with their own URLs, but can never suppress your own ads from showing.
2. Split out your categories. EG, agree with specific affiliates that they can bid on "Red Widgets" but not to bid on "Blue Gadgets".

Or - just let it work itself out & fix any problems as they come up. If you restrict too much, affiliates probably just won't bother.

Any use?

daniel

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http://www.barker.dj

Hi Raymond, thanks for your reply.

Sorry for delay responding - had a few days off.

Back now - we have a limited product range (4 products) and generate most of our revenue through one product.

In my opinion allowing affiliates to bid on our brand terms especially with offer based creative is effectively letting them steal business from us. if we had hundreds of products then yes we'd prevent brand bidding on our core product(s) and perhaps allow it on the 'long tail' of our product range but we don't have that...

So bottom line is - with a limited product range it seems stupid to me to allow brand bidding (allowing for the previous caveats I mentioned earlier.)

Do you mind if i contact you via your profile email address to share a few more thoughts on this?

cheers

Justin

hey dan

We do have multiple foreign websites, with 'affiliate programs' running (mainly offline resellers with some online presence basically).

I have recently started with the company and now taking control of online aquisition. Starting in the UK, then moving on country by country.

Just about (weeks away from) to launch our UK focused program with Affilliate Window and currently setting our brand bidding PPC policy. Blanket ban on brand bidding seemed obvious, but just wanted to get some other views on when to allow brand bidding if at all.

So to answer your Q specifically - yes we have affilliates in other countries who we do allow to brand bid - mainly because our own PPC efforts are currently UK only, and because we are focusing on the UK then moving on country by country once internal resource is in place to support our activities fully.

cheers, I appreciate your comments

justin