maddienguyenvn
Newbie
- Apr 25, 2016
- 26
- 3
Humm, the brand did not ban branded search items? Quite weird. Btw good job bro
Made $11,600+ with Google Ads affiliate in 8 months — $0.04 avg CPC (screenshots inside)
- Thread starter LUONG VAN VIET
- Start date
LUONG VAN VIET
Newbie
- Feb 13, 2020
- 39
- 33
The $0.04 average is across all geos combined — some markets are higher, some lower. But the main driver isn't geo, it's competition. When you're the only bidder on a brand keyword, Google has no reason to push CPC up regardless of country. Run "heygen" exact match in the US and check — if no one else is bidding, you'll still get cheap clicks. Tier 1 CPCs only spike when there's auction pressure. Brand terms on smaller SaaS tools usually don't have that.
HeyGen runs their affiliate program through GetRewardful — that's their chosen platform, not a choice I made. I didn't pick the network, I just applied through whatever link they provided. Rork uses their own system directly. Either way the tracking and payouts work the same. No practical difference on my end.
bitwise0110
Newbie
- Dec 14, 2016
- 9
- 4
As far as I know, Heygen allows Paid Search (excluding brand keywords), so how can you use it?
[heygen]
"heygen pricing"
"heygen review"
"heygen free trial"
It seems most brands don't allow brand bidding in paid ads.
Loveoverenvy
Registered Member
- Jun 4, 2026
- 64
- 24
They don't allow for a reason
- Apr 23, 2012
- 2,842
- 5,847
Both Rewardful and FirstPromoter are affiliate management softwares and not networks - Heygen uses Rewardful for managing affiliates.
maddienguyenvn
Newbie
- Apr 25, 2016
- 26
- 3
Bro how do you set up the conversion measure for google ads, or just only focus on CPC ?
LUONG VAN VIET
Newbie
- Feb 13, 2020
- 39
- 33
HeyGen and Rork were in growth phase when I started — they needed affiliates driving volume, so brand bidding was allowed. Most established brands do restrict it. The window is early stage, before they have enough organic traffic to not need you anymore.
You're right that HeyGen's current TOS excludes brand keywords — they updated the policy during the time I was running. When I started the campaigns, brand bidding was explicitly permitted. I scaled on it, earned the commissions, then paused after the policy changed. The numbers in the OP reflect what I earned before the restriction. Timeline matters here.
Agreed. They restrict it once they no longer need affiliates competing with their own branded campaigns. It's a business decision, not just a policy one.
Good correction — Rewardful and FirstPromoter are affiliate management platforms, not networks. HeyGen chose to use Rewardful to run their program in-house rather than listing on a third-party network. My wording was imprecise, thanks for clarifying.
No conversion tracking set up in Google Ads — when you send traffic directly to an affiliate link, you don't own the destination page so you can't fire a pixel. Everything is tracked through the affiliate dashboard on the merchant side. I optimize purely on CPC and click volume, then correlate with affiliate dashboard data manually. It's not ideal but it works at this scale.
LUONG VAN VIET
Newbie
- Feb 13, 2020
- 39
- 33
*Update — adding EverBee to the program lineup*
Since a few people asked what I'm running after HeyGen closed their program in June, here's the next one worth sharing data on.
EverBee — Etsy product research tool, 30% recurring commission for 12 months. Two accounts running this, combined numbers:
- Total visitors: ~4,300
- Conversions: 50
- Total earned: $1,294.50
- Conversion rate: ~1.16%
Not as high-revenue per conversion as HeyGen was, but the audience is more accessible — Etsy sellers are actively searching for tools and the buying intent on brand keywords is clean. CPC stays low for the same reason I mentioned in the original post: when you're the only bidder, Google has no reason to push price up.
the 30% recurring for 12 months structure is what makes the math work long-term. A conversion today keeps paying through mid-2027. That changes how you think about acceptable CPA at campaign launch.
still early on this one but the conversion rate is holding steady. Will post updated numbers once I have 90 days of data on both accounts.
Anyone else running Etsy-adjacent affiliate offers with search ads? Curious what conversion rates look like on your end.
Since a few people asked what I'm running after HeyGen closed their program in June, here's the next one worth sharing data on.
EverBee — Etsy product research tool, 30% recurring commission for 12 months. Two accounts running this, combined numbers:
- Total visitors: ~4,300
- Conversions: 50
- Total earned: $1,294.50
- Conversion rate: ~1.16%
Not as high-revenue per conversion as HeyGen was, but the audience is more accessible — Etsy sellers are actively searching for tools and the buying intent on brand keywords is clean. CPC stays low for the same reason I mentioned in the original post: when you're the only bidder, Google has no reason to push price up.
the 30% recurring for 12 months structure is what makes the math work long-term. A conversion today keeps paying through mid-2027. That changes how you think about acceptable CPA at campaign launch.
still early on this one but the conversion rate is holding steady. Will post updated numbers once I have 90 days of data on both accounts.
Anyone else running Etsy-adjacent affiliate offers with search ads? Curious what conversion rates look like on your end.
Attachments
AFAIK they don´t allow brand bidding. They have also an active paid campaign running
LUONG VAN VIET
Newbie
- Feb 13, 2020
- 39
- 33
Honestly yeah, probably in violation of their TOS on the brand side. i'm aware of the risk if they audit and clawback the commissions I'll take the hit. at the current volume it's a calculated bet.
The data is real either way. Just sharing what's working until it stops working.
- Feb 28, 2019
- 7,397
- 7,816
Where do you find new SaaS & AI tools for marketing?
- Apr 1, 2026
- 105
- 49
Rock solid method. And anyone can scale this too. If with the right brand. One question though..I always assumed some affiliates where doing this already? Why do you think the model they use now persists. Because its a celebrity popular award show? There's no other explanation. The typical affliate model is not made for tricks. Its made for people with huge audiences. That got that way the hard way. Or am I wrong?
I will be the first to admit. I dont know much about the affiliate game. However, I do know gatekeeping on their part. When I see it!
ibrahimbrtawi
Regular Member
- Mar 1, 2015
- 291
- 229
Super informative and interesting thread. Maybe instead of direct link, take them to a page to collect some direct 1-1 marketing info, like an email address, you'll make way more.
Email is still one of the highest ROI channels for digital marketing in 2026.
Food for thought.
Email is still one of the highest ROI channels for digital marketing in 2026.
Food for thought.
r4ven
Newbie
- Oct 15, 2025
- 22
- 13
I bet in this scenario that would have a negative impact on conversion.
Can you elaborate a bit more on taking such risks? I guess consequences shift from offer to offer, but the general idea itself, as far as I understand it, is that as long as they ain't aware of your doings there's nothing they can do. But if they become aware, they'd be banning you from that specific offer, maybe whole platform, and demanding you to pay back them gains?
John J. S.
Newbie
- Oct 24, 2019
- 21
- 5
for this did you use branded domains too or just relative domain to the business or you dont need to buy a domain right since the link you're using is the affiliate directly
r4ven
Newbie
- Oct 15, 2025
- 22
- 13
I'd say he's using the affiliate links directly... ehm.