Affiliates And Internal Search Recipe For Disaster
24
Affiliates & Internal Search: A Recipe for Disaster? Tony Pantano – CEO – Imwave, Inc.
-
Upload
affiliate-summit -
Category
Business
-
view
13 -
download
2
description
Google's rules are often misunderstood, causing turf wars between the affiliate channel & search teams. Learn through real world examples how to maximize affiliate search & internal search programs.
Transcript of Affiliates And Internal Search Recipe For Disaster
Affiliates & Internal Search: A Recipe for Disaster?
Tony Pantano – CEO – Imwave, Inc.
Some of you will agree with what I say
Some of you will say I’m crazy
Some will say: “This doesn’t apply to my program”
It’s OK!
Welcome
What are the perceived issues & concerns
What Really Happens
How can PPC help your Program
Examples
What Will We Talk About
What really puts internal search teams at odds with Search Affiliates?
What Will We Talk About
“We want/need to protect our brand”
“Allowing affiliates to use our display URL will increase our own PPC cost”
“Our Agency covers all our keywords/ We have all the coverage we need on our Branded keywords”
Issues that you will hear
We are advocates of strong Terms and Conditions
Having 1-3 trusted partners assisting with Search can be beneficial
Trusted partners are those you have a relationship with
Can contact when necessaryWill adhere to all brand guidelines
Brand Protection
Where affiliate is NOT using your URL
Merchant bidding $1.00Affiliate bidding No BidCompetition Bidding $ .49
You take top position at $ .50
Display URL/Direct Linking
Where affiliate is using your URL and you are bidding on the same Keyword:
Merchant bidding $1.00Affiliate bidding $ .75Competition bidding $ .49
You STILL take top position at $ .50
Display URL/Direct Linking
Where affiliate is using their own URL and you are bidding on the same Keyword:
Merchant bidding $1.00Affiliate bidding $ .75Competition bidding $ .49
You take top position at $ .76Higher cost but extra “real estate”
Display URL/Direct Linking
Display URL/Direct Linking
CompanyCampaign
Affiliate SearchCampaign
Potential Keyword Overlap
Display URL/Direct Linking
Potential Keyword Overlap
Potential Overlap with partner’s internal search campaigns
o Potential Keyword overlap is typically very small
oUse of Display URL/Direct LinkingoGoogle requires the display url and the landing
page url to be the same.oUse of Display URL by a search affiliate will rarely
drive up costs.oA trusted affiliate will work within brand guidelines.
Search Overlap
No one size fits all
Is your Brand well established?
Are there any budget restrictions on your Internal Search efforts?
Does your Internal Team/Agency have all the variations covered?
Trade Mark & Brand Bidding
Bid Caps on Trademark termso Allow Affiliate to fill potential gaps in bidding without
increasing your cost.
Keyword Removal Agreemento Should our ad be displaying instead of your Internal
Search ad, contact Imwave and we will adjust bidding as necessary
Trade Mark & Brand Bidding
Potential Overlap with partner’s internal search campaigns
Use of Branded Keyword TermsUnless you have 24/7 coverage of all your
brand terms you may be missing clicks.If you are missing clicks, your competition
is likely taking up the space.A good Search Affiliate can back fill this space on your
brand terms without increasing internal cost.
Use of Trademark Misspellings & VariationMany companies maintain a small list of variations.Search Affiliates can typically create a variation list of
several thousand terms, increasing your reach.
Search Overlap
Search Overlap
Affiliate Paid Search Overlap ContinuedCommission rates typically force affiliates to bid lower
than you would for your internal search campaigns. It is rare that affiliate ads would display instead of your internal
ads
Analyze your Search CPA vs. your Affiliate CPA Look at Costs & Conversation Rates and CPA
Preventive Measures Bid Caps on Trademark terms Allow trusted affiliates to fill potential gaps in bidding without
increasing your cost. Keyword Removal Agreement
I was hoping to avoid this slide
Direct Linking with Partner’s Display URLRights to use Trademarks in Ad CopyAccess to Trademark & Variation Keywords
5-10 specific terms excluded terms.Initial trial period to prove conversion rates.
What Could a PSM Test Look Like?
Search Overlap
CompanyCampaign
Affiliate SearchCampaign
Potential Keyword Overlap
Example
Top Company in its Space
Name you know
Consumer & Business Products
Terms and Conditions: No Use of Display URL No TM or Brand Term, variations, misspelling etc. Must take user to Affiliate page before directing to
Merchant Page
Example
Explored the depth of Current Search Efforts
Discovered that PPC was based on a budget an that PPC ads were slowed or turned off as budget was reached
Discussed a 90 day testAllowed use of Display URLAllowed to use TM/Brand + Generic String TermsIdentified 10-15 Brand TermsPermitted to use those 10-15 terms with a
predetermined Bid Cap
No increase in cost for Internal Search Team
No noticeable change in volume for internal search program
10x increase in Sales volume
“Test” is now in it’s 18 month
Results
No one size rule for all programs
Many misconceptions about Search AffiliatesTrusted PartnersDisplay URL/Direct LinkingNo One Group Can come up with all search termsNo easy answer on TM terms
Search can play an important role in your program
TEST, TEST, TEST!!
Conclusion
