closed brand bidding groups

[dougs]

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Why do they exist?

I am trying to find out which merchants do it and why, then I can make an informed decision wether I work with them or not....I don't want someone else stealing my cash

Doug
Closed brand bidding groups - why do they exist | Doug's mouthpiece

[Shane]

ok my simplistic overview :

For :
there are loads of filthy grubsy affiliates out there (just ask ASOS!) ok joking.. most are professional and do as they are told but many are not.. so brand bidding groups are usually made up of affiliates who (amongst other things) will do as they are told, i.e. have adcopy that says what the merchant wants it to and have landing pages/sites that conform with any merchant request, these BBG affiliates also have very deep pockets (due to lashings of previous brand campaign profit) so don't run out of budget part way through the month.

Against :
Many just bid soley on brand, or at best brand plus a generic term, adding zero real value.. in effect they are getting paid on sales already heading towards the till .. often already "paid" for via generic ppc, seo, email etc. by other afffiliates... many have very cosy network and agency ties.. some seemingly incestuous at times especially when their work doesn't appear to hold up to inspection !! one can only assume there must be some other reason they still keep getting away with it !? ineptitude or incentive.. who knows but 1+1 often equals 1 instead of 2 yet still everyone is smiling and nothing changes

BBG's do allow for tighter control over brand space, but it's often at a cost of lower overall affiliate engagement of their program as many affiliates won't touch something with a brand bidding group in play as some feel it's just a glorified generic cookie harvesting and overwriting operation where their cookies set on generic terms end up overwritten by the user returning to search on brand terms later.

Some guys do try harder to add value, they build decent generic sites and drive generic traffic yet STILL seemingly more just appear to keep getting away with doing sparse coverage of terms .. although that could be cos they are too busy polishing the f430, having helicopter lessons, waxing the yacht's deck or planting bonsai in their two acre conservatory.

I thought that 2008 would be the year brand groups got shook up and the net widended but so far all I keep seeing is phrases like "proven track record on brand".. "experience in brand space".. etc.. seems some people think it's on par with being a nasa astronaught to bid on brand when in reality anyone with basic ppc experience and a credit card can do it.

[3wdl]

I think it would have been the year Shane, if it wasn't for the changes to google's TM policies. People were starting to take note and listen to why BNB was such a bad tactic and some networks made some good moves on solutions to ensure that cookies were not overriden.

I think that previous reasons for BNB were a bunch of crock (and didn't add incremental value IMVHO) but now there does seem to be a reason to allow it - to try and stop competition showing up on brand searches.

It's obviously up for debate on if this is an issue and if so, should be it closed groups though.

[hpops]

I think it would have been the year Shane, if it wasn't for the changes to google's TM policies. People were starting to take note and listen to why BNB was such a bad tactic and some networks made some good moves on solutions to ensure that cookies were not overriden.

I agree totally with this - was starting to see some real progress in the area only to have watched 200 knees collectively jerk, give the dust some time to settle and I hope the progress made will be revisited.

[dougs]

All I ask is if you are a merchant then make it open to everyone. Then lets see what value the closed BBG add

Doug
Closed brand bidding groups - why do they exist | Doug's mouthpiece