[drivetowin]

Paul

On the whole I would agree with you about brand bidding groups, but I think as Kevin has said it is important to differentiate between pure brand bidding groups (which 90% of the time are a bad idea) and closed group brand plus generic ppc / closed group generic for a particular merchant (which for most merchants can be a good idea as it gives them greater control of their ppc channel).

Even for pure brand bidding there are cases where it is in the merchant's best interest (for example British Gas, where their name is so generic that Google will not allow them to register their name for the normal Google trademark protection) and so a closed brand bidding group allows them to control their costs while also ensuring they can dominate (at least page 1) of the ppc results on Google.

Edit - oh and before anyone asks at the current time we are not members of any brand bidding closed group on any network.

While it is hard to argue for brand bidding groups 99% of the time, equally I have yet to hear a really convincing argument for allowing Uncle Tom Cobbley and all to bid on brand / brand plus generic terms either.