What brand bidding is
Brand bidding is buying paid search ads on a casino's own brand name, or on close variants of it: the name with a typo, the name plus a word like bonus, login or review. The searcher already knows the brand. Your ad puts your tracking link between them and the casino's own result, and the programme pays you a commission on a player it would very probably have acquired anyway.
That last sentence is the whole argument against it, and it is why brand bidding is the most commonly prohibited channel in the industry. Which programmes in our network allow brand search ads is a short list, and it is a short list everywhere.
Why most programmes prohibit it
- It cannibalises the operator's own traffic. A searcher typing the brand name was going to arrive for free. An affiliate ad in front of that result converts the same player into a paid acquisition.
- It raises the operator's own advertising cost. Search ads are an auction. Every affiliate bidding on the brand term pushes up the price the operator pays to appear on its own name.
- It fails the attribution test. A commission is meant to pay for a player the affiliate found. Brand traffic is a player the brand found, redirected.
- Trademark exposure. Search platforms permit bidding on a trademark but restrict its use in ad text, and operators protect their marks. An affiliate ad that uses the name in the headline can draw a complaint against the operator's account as well as the affiliate's.
When it is allowed, and on what terms
Some operators allow brand bidding deliberately: a new brand buying awareness, a brand whose own search team is small, or a brand defending its name against competitors and happy to have allies in the auction. Permission comes with conditions, and the conditions are the deal. Get them in writing before you spend.
| Condition | What to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Terms | Exact brand name only, or misspellings and brand plus modifier too? | Brand plus bonus is a different query from the brand alone, and often the one the operator wants back. |
| Markets | Which countries, in which languages? | Platform gambling certification is per country, and the operator's own permission usually is too. |
| Ad text | May the brand name appear in headlines, descriptions, display URL? | Trademark rules on the platform are separate from the programme's permission; both apply. |
| Landing page | Direct link, or your own page first? | A direct-link brand campaign is indistinguishable from the operator's own ad, which is exactly what some operators forbid. |
| Position | Any cap on bidding above the operator's own ad? | Outranking the brand on its own name is the version that costs the operator most. |
Expect permission to be temporary. The moment an operator's branded search costs rise, the first lever it reaches for is its affiliates' brand campaigns. Build yours so they can be paused in minutes, not days.
The platform rules sit on top
A programme's permission does not override the search platform. Google, Microsoft and the others require gambling certification for the advertiser account, grant it only for countries where they allow gambling ads, and review the landing page against the licensing rules of the targeted country. An affiliate site has its own certification route and it takes time. Start it before you negotiate brand terms, not after.
Trademark policy is a second layer. Bidding on a trademark as a keyword is generally allowed; using it in ad copy is restricted and the trademark owner can file a complaint. The casino is the trademark owner. If it has allowed you to bid, agree how it will treat its own complaints process, because its legal team may not have been told what its affiliate team agreed.
The economics, honestly
Brand traffic converts far better than generic traffic, because the searcher has already chosen. That makes the arithmetic look wonderful on a CPA calculator: a low cost per click against a high conversion rate. The number that is missing is the one the operator sees, which is how much of that volume it would have had for nothing. Programmes that allow brand bidding often pay a reduced rate on brand-sourced players for exactly this reason, so run the calculator with the brand rate, not the headline rate.
Brand campaign margin = (brand CPA rate × funded players) − (clicks × CPC)The rule at TopStep Partners
Brand bidding is agreed per casino, like every channel. Our advertising guidelines are the binding version: they take precedence over anything written here, and your account manager confirms for each casino whether brand search is permitted and on what terms. The traffic channels overview covers how the other channels are treated.
