Are PPC Spy Tools Worth the Money?
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These things are popping up so fast it’s almost ridiculous.
They’ve been around in the underground for quite a while. Just think, the feature was introduced by Brad Callen in Keyword Elite over a year ago.
It was allowed to fly peacefully under the radar for many months until Chris McNeeney came along with Affiliate Project X, demonstrating how you could basically uncover and swipe profitable campaigns from super affiliates.
Even then, it was clunky and not all that practical to use on a large scale basis.
A couple of smart cookies saw the opportunity and jumped all over it like hyenas on a 3 day old bacon cheeseburger. Then the copy cats did their thing.
So what’s the wrap? Are these things an essential element of your affiliate arsenal or just another distraction in a world of TV dinners and turbo widgets?
Convincing arguments can be made on both sides of the debate:
Why Spytools are Useless:
There are so many other important aspects of PPC affiliate marketing that this alone will make only a very small difference in your overall results.
If you can’t select good niches, work around the Google slap, bid correctly, convert visitors and create a backend, there isn’t much use for “the best keywords”.
It gives you a chance, a small advantage but it pretty much stops there.
You can find out what keywords a successful affiliate is bidding on, but can you emulate that success? It depends on a multitude of factors Spy Tools give you zero control over.
Why Spy Tools are the Bomb:
Now let’s look at the flip side. If you know how to and are able to:
• Determine who is making money and who is not
• Zero in on the profitable campaigns
• Steal their keywords and affiliate offers
• Build pages that convert
• Get a healthy relationship with Google Adwords and other PPC providers
• Track your conversions
• Monetize the back end
In that case, the Spy Tools can help you spread your kingdom faster than the Mongol Hordes could ransack a Buddhist Temple.
The idea is to find where it is most worthy to deploy your troops. That’s where the Spy Tools comes in handy.
If you think of it as your affiliate compass or dowsing rod, then you have the right idea…
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Thought / Action of the Day:
If you’d like a beta invite to affiliate heaven, drop me a comment and I’ll get in touch.
Number of the Day:
7: Percentage of the 68 RSS feeds I read everyday that are useful most of the time.
on August 1st, 2007 at 1:47 pm ¶
Alex,
I’ve signed up for Affiliate Radar but I haven’t used the software yet. I will be firing it up when I get back from hols. I’m very excited about some of its features. Have you any thoughts on Affiliate Radar? How does Schoeffel’s AdSpy compare? It costs less than one months subscription to AR.
on August 2nd, 2007 at 3:11 am ¶
Hi Kieran,
Thanks for your comment.
Affiliate Radar is a conversion tracking tool, not a spy tool.
In that idea, it doesn’t really compare to Schoeffel’s or any other, rather it takes care of another part of the equation for you.
It also allows you to important and export your campaigns from one PPC network to the other.
I haven’t used it so I can’t really comment further, but in theory, it is a useful tool in the same relative way that spy tools are.
on August 5th, 2007 at 9:43 pm ¶
Yeah, the feature I liked about Affiliate Radar, even though I didnt buy it was the MSN,Yahoo export. Other than that, Xtreme conversions and Adspypro are a good marriage. Plus they implement almost all features requested by current customers. Amir has sworn to make the best tracking tool on the market, and its come a long way. I think he’s even implementing an “antispytool” feature so that you can’t be spied on. ASP was recently updated too with some nice improvements.
But as Alex said, there’s more to the equation than just cool tools…
on August 5th, 2007 at 11:46 pm ¶
Hi Rian,
It’s interesting that the “anti-spy” is now becoming a necessity. That in itself shows that the people who know how to benefit from what they spy tools bring to the table are doing some damage.
on August 16th, 2007 at 6:59 am ¶
[…] Alex gives us his take on some PPC tools and why they suck, and useful at the same time. […]
on August 17th, 2007 at 7:02 am ¶
I’ve also used some of these tools, but completely agree with Alex’s assessment. They only give you a bit of a starting point for your campaign. There is lot’s of work that must be done past that to make the campaign successful…just not as easy as it looks.
on August 25th, 2007 at 5:03 am ¶
Hey Alex,
just found your blog and _really_ like it! Cool writing style you got too…
can you put me on that beta-list?
thanks!
christoph
on August 27th, 2007 at 5:59 am ¶
Hi Christoph,
Welcome to NetFM, I’m glad you liked it.
You’re on the beta list.
on August 29th, 2007 at 6:44 pm ¶
Alex - I purchased PBM and applaud your ability to simply convey the complex. Don’t let this talent sit idle.
Put me on the beta list if available.
Thanks!
Steve
on August 30th, 2007 at 5:51 am ¶
Alex, l like your take on the spy tools popping up all over the place. I have used a couple and also been in on a couple of betas. They have their usefulness but as you said it is only a part of the equation. It still takes some skill to be able to use these tools to your advantage. It will be interesting to see what all of these different tools will do to get around the antispy tools coming out.
By the way, awesome blog! Can you include me on your Beta list?
on August 30th, 2007 at 10:37 pm ¶
Hi James,
Thanks for your comment. We might see a miny arms race between the spyers and the protectors but I have no doubt that on the whole the Spytools will give a big advantage to those who use them.
I’ve included you on the beta list, expect and email soon.
on August 30th, 2007 at 10:39 pm ¶
Hi Steve,
Thanks a lot. This tool we are developping is far more complete than anything on the market out there.
There is a lot of thought and innovation in it. I think you will like it
.
on September 7th, 2007 at 9:32 pm ¶
I gave Google Cash Detective a test run and though it was pretty useless. I can’t say anything about the other tools mentioned here though because that was the only one I tried and the only one I probably ever will try.
on September 8th, 2007 at 3:05 am ¶
Hi Derek,
Thanks for your comment.
It seems quite a few people were underwhelmed with GCD.
You run an impressive blog and if you do affiliate marketing at all, I’d like to invite you to beta test a new application I am working on with a team.
It might just have what it takes to make you review your position