Integrating SEM and Affiliate Marketing

Bidding on keywords that are also someone else's trademarked terms is a risky business. It's one thing if you're marketing another brand's products and you have permission to use their terms, but according to an Ad Age report released today, you can expose yourself to serious litigation if you or your agency are careless about how you use others' branded terms. And this risk can be compounded if your affiliate marketing program includes publishers who bid on keywords on your behalf. Even if publishers bid on keywords with branded terms you own or have permission to use, those bids may jack up the price of your own search engine marketing program.

When managing an affiliate program, present your publishers with a clear policy about what branded terms you may allow them to bid on to send you traffic, and any price limits you may require for your own branded terms. A little preparation up front can save you a lot of headaches later on.