itisgene - 10:35 pm on Jan 19, 2005 (gmt 0)

Oh, don't get me wrong.
We are a well known brand name in the US. I mean I work for a large corporation with one of the largest affiliate programs.

We have never failed to pay the commision to our affiliates for many years.
We may have to deduct the ill-earned commission from the affiliates and kick them out.
But why do you bid on brand terms when merchants say do not do it several times? We have sent several emails recently specifically not to do it. We even changed our welcome email to emphasize "Non Brand term bidding policy" in red.

There ARE still a few affiliates doing it.
It is because they know our brand name is popular and the conversion is REALLY good. And there is no one else bidding on them except..us. So you would think you canmake fortune after thie Google policy change if you out bid us only 10-20% of the traffic, you might be OK.

Wrong. If you bid on our brand terms knowing that it is against TOS, it is unethical.
If you bid on our brand terms without knowing it, you need to read TOS closely.

I sent out an email to our affiliate program manager about the affiliate. She will decide what to do with the affiliate. Could be just a warning...could be a kickout.