TRAFFIC & STRATEGY
The state of paid
Ahmed Chopdat charts the evolution of Google ’ s paid search for igaming affiliates and how this has shaped present-day opportunities and strategies
The world has changed a lot since Google fully opened its paid channels to igaming affiliates in 2008 . However , the core principles have not changed all that much . The keywords that work and convert the best are still the same , but what has changed is the cost … and this could change even further .
In the past , there were only a handful of affiliates Google allowed to advertise , with those restricted still finding a way to do so ( I ’ ll let you fill in the blanks ). Typically , affiliates hosted around 10-20 brands on their landing pages , which meant they had multiple opportunities for conversions . Most of these customers registered accounts with multiple brands , meaning affiliates could afford to pay more to appear higher on the SERP thanks to higher commission from brands .
Once vendors realised this , many switched from CPA deals to revenue-share deals with affiliates to make sure that the partnerships were equally as lucrative for them . Business for affiliates during this time remained fruitful as they continued to compete at a high level , with most affiliates owning multiple accounts with multiple brands . Additionally , most affiliates also created custom landing pages with their brands .
All bases covered
The affiliates that benefited the most were those that had presence across both paid and organic search . However , successive Google updates saw affiliates continually hit on organic , leading to a reliance on more paid activity and higher costs . As a result , affiliates had to start working smarter , and many started using agencies to manage their accounts , which worked out quite well for a lot of our clients .
A lot of affiliates found success on Bing , which is often overlooked by vendors and therefore hosts an audience that is easier to target and convert . To this day , Bing is still an area where affiliates remain quite slack and could do a lot more . However , the focus for this article is Google .
Recent years have seen spiralling CPCs and Google restrictions , which on top of the increased regulation , consolidation and competitive pressures in dot . country markets have squeezed smaller affiliates and put many out of business . On top of these restrictions , more and more affiliates and generic comparison sites have jumped on the bandwagon – increasing competition and creating a more
It ’ s not just affiliates that are finding the increase in costs a challenge – vendors are in the same position saturated market for affiliates .
However , it ’ s not just affiliates that are finding the increase in costs a challenge – vendors are in the same position . Consequently , many smaller online casinos have folded ( although others pop up to take their place ).
So , what can you do now ?
The type of keywords that drive success remain the same : volume keywords . They are the most expensive ones but can be beneficial for affiliate use , and there are a number of accompanying factors to consider . For example , taking location into consideration , are they the most expensive in every region ? Or does your account actually succeed in every region ? Operators can provide more data now than ever before , so you can potentially access many more insights into keywords , devices , locations , etc . Using this data to your advantage is key and will help take your account to the next level .
Some affiliates are tracking clicks to vendors from their website , which is a good indication of success and helps with automated bidding on Google .
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