The biggest difference between ppc and
seo is that ppc is under the affiliate's control and they quite deliberately choose where and how they appear. That makes it easier to have hard rules like, you can do that , you can't do this, you must place certain terms as negative keywords, etc.
With
SEO, you need to look at what the affiliate is doing, why they are doing it, and what effect it has.
Interestingly, newbie found a merchant's name where merchant had top position and there was a BCL page right below it. That page, which has been online for many years, isn't heavily
seo'd for babyexpress (look further down the google page for those) and isn't likely to lure a reader who types in babyexpress down past the first listing (assuming they skip the brandbidder). Our page has a reason for being that has nothing to do with
seo and google - which might be why it ranks higher than the ones lower down ;-). Readers who get to our "about the merchant" pages do not get there via google. I know that because I have access to the stats.
As Jim said, in
SEO, the merchant's listing should always appear at the top, above affiliates' listings if someone types in their name. So affiliates who are targetting the already-converted customer aiming for the shop have an extra task. They must lure the reader past the merchant's natural listing to click on theirs - which is why getting 10 spots on the page is a bit of a furphy.
The obvious examples of affiliates who
seo on merchants names/URLs with the aim of luring the customers past the merchants listing are the coupon sites. Try
anymerchantURLyoulike coupon and you'll see them.
Again, it is not as simple as saying all coupon sites are bad. There are some very genuine coupon sites which have an established base of customers and work closely with merchants. The coupons they promote are authorised by the merchant and often exclusive to that affiliate - and sometimes there's a commission split so the merchant doesn't get hit by a double whammy (commission+discount)
By contrast, the dodgy coupon sites are not at all interested in working with the merchants, they just use the terms to target customers who are checking to see if there is a coupon (often half way through the cart on another window and prompted by a box on the merchant's own site asking if they have a coupon code). For these websites, getting the cookie laid so they get commission is the aim, and the validity of coupons and effect on the merchant is irrelevant.
So, just as the brandbidding ppc affiliates can harm the perception of genuine ppc affiliates who get additional sales, so too can dodgy affiliates harm the perception of coupon sites as a whole.
So, Shopping King, I think the answer is not as clearcut as it is with brandbidding.
Perhaps the easiest way to decide is to consider who benefits from any particular practice.
As merchants are the ones who are paying, affiliates and networks should provide benefits to the merchant (eg extra sales and customers, cost-effective advertising) if they want the merchant to continue the program. (Tracked sales does not necessarily equal extra sales.) Of course, the affiliate needs to make a profit too - the challenge is in creating, and maintaining a win-win. If either the merchant, the affiliate or even the network, don't get fair benefit from the relationship, they are within their rights to refuse to continue.
re the 10 listings furphy: Some merchants might be happy to pay affiliates to target their name to block out negative reviews but, as an affiliate, I'd ask whether I really wanted to promote that merchant.
Using Brandwords in SEO & building ones pages 
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