Brand protection is a crucial aspect of any paid search strategy. In a highly competitive digital landscape, it is important for brands to safeguard their reputation, maintain control over their messaging, and prevent competitors from capitalizing on their brand equity. This comprehensive guide to brand protection will explore the risks and consequences of not protecting your brand, as well as strategies and tools to effectively protect your brand in paid search.
Brand protection involves safeguarding your brand from competitors, resellers, and affiliates who may exploit your brand for their own gain. There are several ways in which they can do this, including keyword bidding and trademark misuse. Competitors may bid on your brand terms, causing your ads to drop in search results, or they may use your brand name or trademarks in their ads to mislead customers and divert traffic.
The importance of brand protection cannot be overstated. Trademark infringements can divert as much as 21.5% of a brand’s clickshare to competitors, resulting in lost clicks and potential customers. Search is a critical part of the customer journey, and if rivals are able to steal demand, it can have a significant impact on your overall investment. One lost customer can snowball into tens of thousands of dollars over their lifetime.
One of the risks of brand protection is affiliate ad-hijacking. This occurs when affiliates create fake ads that look like yours, using your brand name and targeting relevant search queries. They then funnel traffic to your website using UTM parameters, essentially stealing commissions unrightfully. The consequences of ad-hijacking include wasted ad spend, lost traffic and sales, brand damage and confusion, channel conflict, reduced click-through rates, and erosion of brand trust.
To protect your brand from affiliate ad-hijacking, it is important to set boundaries and agree to codes of conduct with your partners. Specify what terms they can use and how you want your brand to be represented. Additionally, make sure you are only paying for traffic that you wouldn’t win otherwise and use tools like Adthena’s Ad Hijacking Detection solution to monitor and report instances of affiliate ad hijacks.
Trademark infringement in paid search occurs when a competitor or another advertiser uses your legally protected trademarks in a way that confuses customers about the source of a product or service. This can include bidding on your brand terms or directly including your trademark within their ad copy. The risks and consequences of trademark infringement include legal trouble, brand damage, wasted resources, account suspension, negative customer perception, and reputational hit.
To protect your brand from trademark infringement, it is important to not get involved in bidding wars on your own search terms. Instead, use search intelligence tools to understand your competitors’ Google Ads strategies and take action against infringements. Adthena’s Infringement Tracker is a useful tool for monitoring bids and infringements on your branded search terms.
Implementing a brand protection strategy is essential, but it is also important to track its effectiveness. Metrics such as reduced infringement, control over brand search share and click-through rates, and indirect benefits like enhanced brand image and improved conversion rates can help gauge the success of your strategy. Regularly monitor metrics and adapt your strategy to ensure ongoing brand protection.
In conclusion, brand protection is crucial for any brand operating in the digital landscape. By safeguarding your brand from competitors, affiliates, and trademark infringements, you can maintain control over your messaging, reputation, and customer experience. Implementing strategies and using tools like Adthena’s solutions can help you effectively protect your brand in paid search and ensure long-term success.
