Here are some answers to some frequently asked questions that Google has been receiving regarding their new affiliate policy. Interesting to note how they are now refering to the process of which ads to display as the "affiliate auction".

Goyami: If I have 2 ads in my account: 1 that has the visible URL eBay.com and one with my own domain in the visible URL, what ad will show?

Google: We will continue to pull ads from your account like we always have. This means we pull the Ad Group with the highest Ad Rank. Then we pull one creative from this Ad Group based on your campaign settings -- either we rotate evenly through the ads or we pull the one picked by the auto optimization feature. The one selected creative is then sent to the auction. If it loses the affiliate auction, we do not look for an alternate ad that is not subject to the new affiliate policy.

Goyami: How is my CPC set? Is it based on competing affiliates, even when they are not shown?

Google: The CPC that you pay for the ad click is based only on other ads that are shown. Your bid is not set based on lower ranked affiliate ads.

Goyami: How will my CTR ever have a chance to improve after the change takes place and my ad never gets shown anymore?

Google: Your ad may still show if competing affiliate-advertisers reach their daily budgets. Your ad may also be shown for certain variations of your broad keywords where your ad has traditionally performed better than others. As a last resort, you can increase your maximum CPC to improve its chances of showing.

Do you have any other questions for Google, send them my way and I will pass them on.

Adam