As we report in the latest edition of Revenue Performance magazine to be published in two week’s time, the upcoming holiday season is providing a little seasonal sunshine after a dark and gloomy year for many affiliates.

Now eConsultancy has brought together some industry metrics that say much the same thing. They focus particularly on paid search as a leading indicator. Two digital agencies have released aggregated figures from their client campaigns that show increases in the third quarter ranging from 5% – 10%, and Citibank estimate a 10% increase in search-spend for Performics.

Now this is not all good news. Dig beneath the surface and you will find that the big spenders are clients like Bankrate, CapitalOne and E-Trade. As in the real world, the fact that the banksters are doing well and expecting a bumper holiday season does not necessarily mean that the rest of us will make money too.

But there are signs of life. We feel the lesson is that there is business to be gained, but affiliates and publishers need to be smarter – and possibly more cautious in their PPC spending – than ever. Be careful out there.