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Great response. Thanks for the thorough answer.

Thanks for your response. Good answer.

What is the current thinking regarding including branded terms (full product names, brand name + keyword, etc.) in your PPC campaign? My company has good brand awareness, and key words and terms associated with them (i.e. Dell computer, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Nikon camera, etc.) are always #1 or in the top 2-3 organically. The agency we're working with claims that by buying the branded terms PLUS being at the top organically increases brand credibility and has been proven that the user is more likely to click.

I'm not convinced...seems like a waste of PPC spend if we're already at the top organically. Any thoughts or usability studies/papers that talk about this?

Thanks for your help with this question.