Competitor Brand Bidding Makes Merchants Look Bad

Over the last week or so, in the wake of the Google abolishment of the rules on trademark bidding, I am certain you have been inundated with emails from merchants reminding and revising their ppc policies, possibly to the point where you are screaming “no more” and getting itchy with the delete button finger.

Of all the emails that landed in my inbox the one that is etched in my mind is from gadget merchant Firebox simply for this paragraph:

No Competitor Brand Bidding – Please do not bid on the trademarked brand names of our competitors when promoting Firebox.

It makes us look bad and feel icky.

(Plus we get nasty phonecalls from our competitors, which nobody likes.)

That one line (It makes us look bad and feel icky) should be enough to put off anyone from even considering allowing competitor brand bidding on their affiliate program, although it would be a bit naive to think that it would put off everyone, as unfortunately there are plenty of people of low moral fibre.

I will let you dear reader undertake your own research as to who is allowing the dubious practice of brand bidding on competitor terms.