PPC display URL rules

[TenThousandPounds]

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Hi All

Just a quick question on PPC direct to merchant (I thought I understood all this but now I'm not 100% !)

If a merchant's terms and conditions state that affiliates cannot use the merchant URL as the 'display URL' on PPC ads is the only option to send the user to my own landing page (with its own URL which is used in the 'display URL') and then hope the user makes one more click through to the merchant?

I'm thinking, if these are the merchant's rules, could I buy a domain (probably a name relevant to the sector as the merchant I want to promote) and use that domain as the 'display URL' but then use my affiliate link to fire the user direct to the merchant.

I would have guessed that Google (plus Yahoo and MSN) will check the 'display URL' is a real site and, even if not, is this approach in the spirit of Affiliate Marketing or could it lead to a poor relationship with the merchant?

Hope this is not a daft question!

Thanks

[KirstyM]

The merchant might not like it, but using a wrong display URL is against Google's hallowed Terms Of Service. You could get away with it for a wee while, but I wouldn't recommend depending upon any revenue generated in this way. They get awfully pissed off with affiliates who engage in this kind of thing.

MSN also don't like it, and I think you'd get caught out reasonably fast (although who knows. I still haven't worked these guys out). Yahoo also don't like it. You'd probably get away with it on low volume search terms for some time. They manually check larger volume terms though, so you'd struggle to get enough traffic to make it work for you unless you found thousands of low volume converting terms.

I'd look at building quality landing pages. At least when you get those right you can depend upon the traffic and income you will get from them. The other way, your revenue will eventually dry up and you won't really have learned to "look to the long term"

[TenThousandPounds]

Thank you for clarifying that for me Kirsty. Time to get going with those landing pages, I think.