Would it make a difference if the URLs were highly generic, highly brandable etc?
No, it wouldn’t. The value of traffic in per click terms is not solely dependent on the return on investment of that click. $20 a click for ‘poker’ will not bring in a strong, measurable positive ROI, for instance. The key here is measurable.
It is, however, worth the $20 a click cost because these listings appear on trusted, authority sites like Yahoo, Google and Ask Jeeves and therefore get a lot of views from people who never click. CPM cost = $0. A bargain if you are trying to establish brand. Essentially, what the casinos are doing is offsetting the
click costs against brand awareness value – which long term could
be much higher. Some affiliates are willing to pay these per click costs also but they are playing a slightly different game. Anyway, I digress.
Your traffic isn’t going to be worth $2 a click to a casino, despite the point that Classics makes (which I agree with, generally). It’s unproven, it has no authority, there is no obvious branding advantage. Unless, of course, your site is a community of Hong Kong stock exchange traders and the casinos you advertise accept 1-Pay. Then, or if you have a similar niche audience, your traffic is going to be worth $2 a click at least. Otherwise, it ain’t worth them taking the risk of paying that high a cost for an unproven outcome.