Affiliate Citizen

PPC Basics

This post is inspired by a recent merchant who has just signed up to Affiliate Future. However ive seen numerous examples of what im about to go into over the past few months as merchants try and squeeze every last drop of CASH where they can.

So what am i talking about? Read this:

PPC campaigns can also be run on our behalf as long as your ad does not bid higher than any ad we are already showing.

I presume by this statement they dont want any affiliate ads physically above theirs and they assume (certainly in adwords) that bidding a lower CPC will ensure the ads stay below. Well ive got news for them - It doesnt work as simply as that!

One of the more redeeming features of adwords and indeed yahoo search marketing is a small thing entitled the ‘quality score’. The quality score takes into account a whole host of factors and influences the position of ads across any particular SERP. Therefore I could bid 20p on a keyword with a brilliant quality score and still be in a higher position than the merchant who might be bidding 50p with a crap quality score.

So therefore to assume that the affiliate can control the ad’s position simply by bidding lower is pure ignorance on the merchants part and should not, in my opinion, be included in any requirements for PPC. Im suprised the networks dont give the new merchants some advice in this game.

Rant over, comments welcomed!