Microsoft and Yahoo Plot to Beat Google

I am toooo tired to process a reader question tonight, so I'll leave you with the latest eye-opener circulated by the rumor mill: Rumors Fly on Microsoft and Yahoo.

A choice quote:

"Microsoft officials said Friday that they would not comment on speculation about an acquisition of Yahoo. But a person briefed on the companies’ discussions said one option that had been considered was the linking of advertising networks to generate additional Web traffic."

Can you imagine Yahoo Search Marketing combined with Microsoft adCenter? It would be PPC on steroids. Might explain the continued delays with the new adCenter rollout.

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Q and A: Can you offer any recommendations about bid management software?

Dear Kalena...

I am currently assessing whether it's worth investing in some sophisticated bid management software but am unsure a) which ones to trial and b) how much real advantage this type of software gives - once convenience vs. cost is taken into consideration.

The tools offered by the individual engines have sufficed to date but the scope of some (client) campaigns (2000+ keywords) can make regular bid management a time consuming process.

Have you any experience with bid management software? Can you offer any recommendations or advice?

Best Regards
Giles


Kalena's Answer:

Dear Giles

It just so happens that I reviewed a number of PPC bid management software programs a few years ago.

As a result of my original review article, we ended up choosing BidRank as the best of the lot and I still use it. I really like the gap surfing feature of BidRank and they update their software very regularly so it always works with new releases of PPC programs. If I recall correctly, Google recommends them as a 3rd party product to work with AdWords and they also have a product that works with Yahoo Search Marketing. Read my full review of BidRank for more information.

I became an affiliate for BidRank as I was so impressed and so all the links to the program within this post are my affiliate links. If you decide to purchase BidRank and you are happy to use our affiliate link, make sure you reference Coupon Code WR007 for 5% off of your purchase. If you'd rather not use my affiliate link, the direct link is here.

I must admit that I haven't reviewed any of the programs that have become available in the last two years, so you might want to check those out and compare them to BidRank before purchasing.

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Q and A: Should I use an affiliate program instead of PPC to generate sales?

Dear Kalena...

I am fed up spending hundreds ($350!!!) per week in Google/Yahoo PPC for only 2 sales per week, week after week. My Adwords are getting more expensive, it is ridiculous.

My task for this week is to develop an affiliate program. I have installed software to manage the affiliates and I will contact as many relevant blogs and websites I can to offer them $100 per sales. Which strategy do you reckon? Using an affiliate network? Which one? is $100 (25%) ok? Do I have to give a bonus at the registration ($10 ok?). Do you have some advice to attract affiliates? What can I write in the letter I will email to them that will motivate them to register? If you already have received some interesting letters asking you to be affiliate, would it be possible to forward them to me?

Damien

Kalena's Answer:

Hi Damien

That's a lot of questions for a single cup of coffee! Here are my suggestions:

a) Try bidding on less-competitive keywords/phrases in your PPC campaigns. Research and focus on the laser-targeted 2, 3 and even 4 word phrases. These are cheaper and generally convert better.

b) Review all your ads and your keyword matching options to see if you can improve their quality score and performance. Your ad headings and copy should be laser-focused on the keywords you are bidding on.

c) Are you sending all PPC visitors to a single destination URL? Try developing targeted landing pages for each keyword theme or product and send ad clickers to these instead. Landing pages should include your keyword phrase in the heading and copy of the page and lead visitors directly to your conversion goal without any competing navigation or distractions.

Regarding your affiliate program:

a) I don't use an affiliate network as such, so I can't recommend any in particular. We have just upgraded to JROX Affiliate Manager software for our Search Engine College affiliate program and it seems to be extremely powerful and effective so far. It does involve a lot of setting up and customization, but it pretty much runs itself after that.

b) Regarding your affiliate commission - you could either have a percentage of sales (somewhere between 5 and 25% is common) or a flat fee per sale. Depending on the affiliate program you use, you could even set it up as a pay per click commission where affiliates receive a small fee for every visitor they send your way. Whatever makes the most sense for your product and market.

c) It's up to you whether you you offer a sign-up bonus. It's not that common. We offer a $2 bonus just to get people started, but again, it depends on your market.

d) Regarding attracting new affiliates, you really need to convince them they will make money by promoting your product/service. Ideally, you should have a product that sells well online and is of high quality. Make sure you have a lot of marketing tools for affiliates to choose from (banners, links, buttons etc.) and a very detailed list of features and benefits they can refer to in their own marketing efforts.

In your pitch email, you should give potential affiliates a dollar figure they will make from selling just one of your products so they can get an idea of the potential income they could expect. I personally wouldn't cold-call to find affiliates, unless the product is unbelievably tailored to their site content. Instead you should create banners and promotional pages about your affiliate program and try to attract people to them. A PPC campaign to attract affiliates or leads generally converts better than one to attract sales.

Once you've got some affiliates in place, make sure you give them a very easy way of tracking referrals and commissions and keep in regular contact with them with ideas for how to promote your product/service.

Good luck!

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Yahoo and Click Fraud = Deja Vu?

No time to answer a reader question today, so I'll just point you in the direction of an article on WebProNews that discusses how Yahoo is Again Linked to Click Fraud.

Q and A: What is the best way to promote a new SEO product?

Dear Kalena...

We have created an amazing SEO toolkit. What do you think is the best way to promote it? Channels?

Mike

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Mike

Using AdWords to promote your new product is a good start, especially if you opt-in to the Google Content Network so your ads are shown on search-related sites via AdSense. You should also consider advertising via Yahoo! Search Marketing to reach a larger chunk of the search market, including MSN searchers.

Here are some other excellent ways to jumpstart buzz about your product:

- Create a professional press release and circulate it via distribution channels such as PR Web.
- Send the press release to key bloggers in the SEO industry and ask them to blog it.
- Send the press release to editors or widely-read SEO newsletters, ezines and publications.
- Send a free evaluation copy of your product to journalists in the search industry and/or influential names in the industry and ask them to review it. If they like it, they will most likely blog and/or write about it.
- Start an affiliate program for your product and begin recruiting affiliates and sub-affiliates.
- Write an article/review about the product yourself and syndicate it via search-related article announcement groups such as those described here and in our articles about article marketing.

Best of luck!

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Yahoo Linked to Spyware Click Fraud

Some years ago, I closed my Overture pay per click advertising account (now owned by Yahoo! and re-branded as Yahoo! Search Marketing) in protest over Overture openly undertaking ad-testing with notorious spyware manufacturer Gator (now re-branded as Claria). If you're unfamiliar with the terms "spyware", "scumware" or "thiefware", catch up here.

I have since resurrected my account with Overture/Yahoo! as it was my understanding that the deal with Gator/Claria was dead. But today I learned of an alarming report by Ben Edelman linking Yahoo! to click fraud via a current syndication arrangement with not only Gator/Claria, but with "many dozens" of spyware companies. Even more alarming was the revelation that Yahoo! provided 31% of Gator/Claria's income in 2003!

This is serious stuff folks. Anyone with a Yahoo/Overture pay per click account should study their traffic logs carefully (don't rely on the reports from Yahoo) and lodge a formal complaint with Yahoo! if spyware connections are involved as outlined in Ben's report. Don't take click fraud lying down! Especially when it's lining the very pockets of the company that denies it exists. I am investigating my own Yahoo! account and will post here if I find any click-fraud issues.