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I'm Finding More & More Stupid Merchants Out There

by Joe Stewart
2 replies
I receive an email earlier from a merchant stating that penalties that will be imposed on any affiliates caught bidding on their trade name or any variation of their trade name, URL, etc.

Okay. That's fine. I'm not promoting them anymore anyway. But I have encountered this before and had to stop promoting a merchant program that I was doing well with.

First of all, I DO think that it should be very clear that affiliates are not allowed to present themselves AS the merchant. That could even include using similar colors on their website, landing page, etc, use of certain images or logos, blah, blah, blah. That could turn ugly if allowed and I can respect their concern in that regard.

That being said, what I don't understand is them banning affiliates from bidding on those terms at all. After all, their competitors are going to do it!

If there are 8 paid spots on a page in Google (not including the image ads!) and the merchant has one, that leaves 7 slots available for their competition to swoop in and convince potential buyers that they're a better option.

Wouldn't it be better if some of their affiliates, who they'd make a lot of money from even though they're paying them a commission, were in at least a few of those other 7 positions?

Wait a minute! Aren't those affiliates also paying for their OWN advertising costs with the hope of attaining a commission?

Why in the world wouldn't a merchant prefer that over having 7 competitors bidding on those terms? I could also understand a merchant imposing a bid restriction where they couldn't bid over a certain amount, but to disallow it makes no sense to me at all.

I'm stumped. Could someone please explain the logic in this, if there is any?
#finding #merchants #stupid
  • Profile picture of the author Sid Hale
    Joe,

    You're absolutely right.

    The merchant is being very affiliate unfriendly. Apparently, to combat their competitors, they will use paid advertising themselves, and don't want their affiliates driving up the cost of that advertising.

    Instead, they should be encouraging their affiliates to do ad spends or use any other legitimate method of advertising their product. Affiliate advertising is the primary benefit that a merchant receives from his network of affiliates.

    Whether it is ad spend, or simply mailing to their lists... affiliates extend the "reach" of the merchant and ultimately create sales that never would have occurred without their efforts.

    For the best results (for himself and his affiliates), a merchant should bend over backwards to stay out of their way. The merchant should focus on product creation, customer support, and affiliate recruitment.

    His/her marketing efforts should revolve around the creation of sales copy that converts, creating advertising media for his/her affiliates to distribute (ads, videos, etc.) and leave the distribution of sales collateral to his affiliates.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joe Stewart
      Originally Posted by Sid Hale View Post

      Joe,

      You're absolutely right.

      The merchant is being very affiliate unfriendly. Apparently, to combat their competitors, they will use paid advertising themselves, and don't want their affiliates driving up the cost of that advertising.
      This can be averted by placing a limit on how much the affiliate is allowed to bid. There are some merchants that do allow affiliates to bid on their trademarks, but they don't want them to outrank them in the paid listings. Unfortunately, there are some very skilled affiliates that can write better copy than the merchant, therefore, they can't help it if they're getting more clicks.

      Originally Posted by Sid Hale View Post

      Instead, they should be encouraging their affiliates to do ad spends or use any other legitimate method of advertising their product. Affiliate advertising is the primary benefit that a merchant receives from his network of affiliates.

      Whether it is ad spend, or simply mailing to their lists... affiliates extend the "reach" of the merchant and ultimately create sales that never would have occurred without their efforts.

      For the best results (for himself and his affiliates), a merchant should bend over backwards to stay out of their way. The merchant should focus on product creation, customer support, and affiliate recruitment.

      His/her marketing efforts should revolve around the creation of sales copy that converts, creating advertising media for his/her affiliates to distribute (ads, videos, etc.) and leave the distribution of sales collateral to his affiliates.
      Agreed. I understand the need that merchants have to protect their brand and I also understand that there are some bad affiliates who hurt everyone with their tactics. I'd want them to get rid of anyone not being respectful and playing by the rules, but the rules should also make sense.

      As you said, affiliates should be given the guidelines and left alone.

      You never know. The merchant might end up making the wrong affiliate angry and having that individual jump to a competitor and THEN come back and bid on their trademarks. LOL
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