I wanted to get some feedback on some strategies out there to manage our existing affiliate programs so that are affiliates are not driving up the cost of our bids. I have placed a few questions below that if anyone could answer would be greatly appreciated.

What steps can be done to make a search program outshine the affiliate program, while having both be successful for the clients benefit?

Do affiliates drive up the cost of search programs? If so, by how much on average?

What are some advantages of running both a search and affiliate program at the same time?

What tactics would you advise on managing top affiliates to ensure they stay motivated?

Do affiliates drive up the cost of search programs?No more than any others who are bidding on the same keywords. But think of it this way - when your affiliates bid, they're sending you the traffic. No doubt they'll continue to do PPC if that's their thing, and if they aren't sending you their traffic, then they'll be sending it to your competitors.

The competition will be there either way - the difference is whether you'ill ultimately benefit from it or not.

Thanks Marcia, do you know of any research done on ways to manage affiliates so they do not outperform your ppc campaign?

Keep in mind that affiliate sites also get traffic from sources other than PPC, like return traffic, ads, links and good placement in organic search listings.

No, you can't tell your affiliates how much to bid for PPC. All you can do is prevent anyone bidding on your trademarked name(s) as a condition for participation in your program.