I've been in the adsense business for a bit but now I'm trying my hand at AdWords -> CJ. I was looking for suggestions as to whether I would be better off with or without my own landing page?
I would highly advise that you read the TOS for each merchant that you want to use. Many have strict rules regarding PPC. Some do not allow you drive the PPC directly to them and you must use a landing page. Some do not allow you to use their Trademark names in anyway with PPC. Also many have strict bidding rules with Max. amounts you can use so that you do not out bid them on specific words, etc. I do a lot of PPC and some merchants monitor this stuff very closely and will terminate your affiliate relationship and can even withold your commissions. In most cases I prefer to use my own landing page.
I've been looking at a bunch of merchants that allow 'keyword link'. Any of the ones that I have signed up for do not say anything about having a landing page, rather the restrictions are that you 'may not bind on any of the following terms .......). If that's all I see would it be reasonable to assume that they do not have a problem with direct AdWords as long as you follow their conditions? I have seen a few merchants that explicity say no adwords or that they encourage adwords however the majority don't specifically say.