The state of paid

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 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.

However, is automated bidding working well for affiliates, or for the market as a whole? In our experience, Google still hasn’t mastered automated bidding in this sector, and we believe it will be a while before it does – especially for affiliates that have mainly revenue-share deals.

Testing, testing

Ideally, affiliates should have a combination of CPA and revenue-share deals in place to test better and achieve guaranteed revenue. The most success we find is with affiliates who are regularly updating the brands in their top 10 list. Customers who convert will no doubt come back from time to time, and if you have the same old affiliates on there, they’re unable to create new accounts with them, which reduces the opportunity for higher profit.

Similarly, across other industries, as well other areas of marketing, data is increasingly the cornerstone to continued success. Unfortunately, this is the area that is often overlooked by affiliates. The more you focus on creating extensive reports with detailed and data-driven insights, the better you can strategise to improve account performance. As an agency, we prioritise data analysis and data-driven strategy, which helps us to deliver strong results for affiliates.

Finally, a question we often get asked is: what should my CPC, CTR and CVR be? The answer to this varies massively depending on the website and what deals you have in place. Sometimes, you can afford a much higher CPC and some pages on site can afford a much higher CPC. We wouldn’t be doing you justice if we gave you averages, as the best strategy is the one which is unique to you and your business.