Ergoflex - Keyword Policy

[Qui Gon Jinn]

Okay I received a polite enough email that I was brand bidding claiming there was apparently a keyword restriction in place so I checked original printed copies I had when I signed up the program, and none were in place also, no emails had been received pertaining to any changes.

I asked a few other affiliates yesterday to check keyword policy & none saw any on the buyat website , except one, curious I thought, until he mentioned that he used Version 2 & not Version 3. So I checked Version 2 and yes the keyword restriction was there.

Inconsistancy indeed between v2 & v3. Did they change it thinking there was no need to tell client ... Did their client know, well they do now?

So I called the rep at Buyat and explained the difference between v2 & v3, which buyat obviously didn't know about, then asked them to ensure that if the policy is being added to v3 to make sure they send out an email to affiliates explaining the minor error / changes & give a suitable period of grace to make necessary changes.

This evening I return from a terrific golf day hosted by Webgains, and immediately thought to myself, let me check emails to see if anything is in there about this as I reckon it would have been changed (again) without sending an email out ... guess what I was correct. What is poor is that I expected this to happen.

So unless the email was in a scheduled queue (a get out clause), this is exactly what I mean about what's wrong by sneaking in changes without duly notifying affiliates. If I have missed the email or not seen a general one sent to affiliates, I apologise, but don't hide it & look good to the client at the expense of the affiliate please as I am not the only affiliate to make print outs of ppc policies.

The solution could have been so easy, with an simple email, due to a minor administrative error the keyword policy for Ergoflex was not added to v3 only v2, please note their keyword policy is xyz and could you make the necessary changes within 7 or 14 days. We apologise for the minor inconvenience & thank you for your cooperation.

[Steven Lynch]

Hi Paul,

Firstly, we would like to apologise for the discrepency between v2 and v3 of the management area, which has caused the misunderstanding in this case and thank you for making us aware of it.

We have looked into it, and the tech team have resolved it so that the restrictions now appear in both versions. An email explaining the discrepency is queued to go to affiliates on the programme and will be sent today.

I will give you a call shortly to follow this up.

Thanks

[Qui Gon Jinn]

Hi Steven,

We have just seen the email this morning & thank you for calling me yesterday afternoon.

As a suggestion the ppc policy on the interface doesn't mention you cannot use the display url (for example if someone wanted to use generic terms), whereas in the email it says you cannot. As a suggestion it might be better to use slighter fuller one for the buyat interface.

ie using "Ergoflex will not permit any PPC activity on the programme. Affiliates should not bid on the brand terms, use Ergoflex in the URL or link directly to the Ergoflex site."

as against "No PPC bidding is currently allowed on this programme. If this is something that would interest you for this programme, then please contact the account manager Ruth Plater."

or better still "Ergoflex will not permit any PPC activity on the programme. Affiliates should not bid on the brand terms, use Ergoflex in the URL or link directly to the Ergoflex site.If this is something that would interest you for this programme, then please contact the account manager Ruth Plater."

On a positive note at least the deal structure says what it is supposed to on the tin ... 10% on net sale price. (Excludes VAT and delivery)

For the benefit of other affiliates the site did convert on brand name:
32 clicks - 2 sales - Transaction Value £777.98 - Commission £77.80 - EPC £2.43

Another question, is there a closed bidding group on this program?

[Hayley Nolan]

hi paul,

Thanks again for your post - as you state the terms do not cover what the merchant is asking in enough detail.

We will go into the system now and make the relevent changes - thank you again for your assistance in this matter, and i would like to assure you this will not happen again.

If there is anything further please let me know

Thanks

Hayley

[Tyson Pearcey]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your post - as you state the terms do not cover what the merchant is asking in enough detail. And this is not nearly good enough from my perspective regardless if it was an issue of the management change over or not. I think Steven and you had a good verbal on this but that’s not going the full distance. Which I think is the point you are making here.

We’ll be going into the system now and make the relevant changes - thanks for bringing this to our attention, and I would like to say that we’re taking all the necessary steps to not have this happen again.

I think the tone of an email can say a great deal and can also be misinterpreted so that is one thing we'll be addressing going forward. We will follow this up; to make sure we are at the very least getting a helpful and informative email out in future. IWarrick Lou and myself will be sitting down examine this and make change happen as you are spot on about this. It’s also disappointing that you expected this. The bar is currently being raised.

There is not a closed group on this program. If one opens up we’ll let you know and see how we can get you brand rights based on your interest.

I know the buy.at team is great and our communication strategy needs to reflect just that!

Cheers
Tyson

[Qui Gon Jinn]

Cheers Tyson,

Brand bidding restrictions is not really an issue overall, just ... communication - single point of reference - automatic alerts when changes are made - clearly defined policy & no lengthy legal t&c's - adequate notice to implement changes ...

Display url is generally more my gripe with any ppc restrictions on any program, ie for this program "memory foam mattress" related keywords were quite easy to knock up, though a fairly competitive area.

Thank you anyhow