Advertisement. You may be indifferent to it, you may hate it, but if you own a website, one day to your surprise you may find an advertisement for your own site, which you did not initiate and did not even know about its existence. What happens and what to do with it?

What is brand bidding?

Affiliate marketing is a mutually beneficial partnership where you pay to drive more traffic to your site, and the affiliate gets paid for every click they bring you. There is one rather reviled tactic here, brand bidding. This is a strategy in which a service make a bid on keywords related to a brand in pay-per-click advertising campaigns to promote affiliate products or services to potential customers interested in the product or services.

If you have ever used the services of affiliate networks, you may have found that they prohibit the use of contextual advertising. It may seem counterintuitive, but attempting to find an affiliate network that allows brand bidding might seem tempting, but it can lead to a host of consequences. Here is it:

Keyword Battles

Brand-related keywords are like hot property, and when affiliates start bidding on them using contextual ads, it turns into a real battleground. The more affiliates compete for these keywords, the more you end up paying for each click. That means your advertising costs shoot up, and your ROI might take a hit.

Traffic theft

The concept is simple: when you bid on a brand's name or trademarked keywords in contextual advertising, you're essentially trying to divert traffic that is already interested in the brand's products or services. Moreover, you're not only diverting this organic traffic but also paying for it. It's literally paying for something you could have had for free.

Reputation Impact

I bet you hate the spam that comes to your inbox. No matter how good services are offered there, at the mere mention of this name, your eye will start twitching. So it's worth remembering that if an affiliate is using aggressive advertising or spam, their first impression of you will be that you're an annoying thing.

But here's where it gets really sneaky. Some webmasters resort to displaying ads for other brands without their knowledge or consent. Catching these culprits is like trying to catch a shadow, because they know you won't be too thrilled about it. 

These affiliates might use geo-targeting to display ads in specific locations, adjust ad campaigns to target certain devices, and even control the timing of ad displays to mask their intentions. In essence, they become digital chameleons, making it a daunting task to detect their actions.

As a result, brand owners find themselves in the uncomfortable position of needing constant vigilance. To protect your brand's online presence, you'll need to maintain 24/7 monitoring of your brand's search results from various devices, locations, and at different times of the day. Moreover, it's essential to check from different IP addresses and implement comprehensive measures to identify and combat this illicit practice. Brand bidding isn't just a matter of competition; it's a complex issue that requires diligent protection of your brand's reputation and resources.

What can I do about this?

Dealing with brand bidding can be quite a headache, and finding a «silver bullet» solution is often close to impossible. Nevertheless, there are some steps you can take to try and alleviate the problem, even if they come with their own set of challenges

Affiliate Policy Enforcement

One practical approach is to reinforce your affiliate program's policies. Clearly communicate that brand bidding is a no-go and specify the repercussions for violations. This might not completely solve the issue, but it can act as a deterrent.

Identify Unauthorized Use

Keep a close eye on search engine results and social media to detect any unauthorized use of your brand name or keywords. You can set up alerts or use monitoring tools to help with this.

Check Affiliate Sources

Identify the sources of your affiliate traffic. Review referral data to see where the traffic is coming from. If it's from suspicious or unrelated websites, it could be a sign of unscrupulous affiliate activities.

Utilize Monitoring:

Using utilities can help you detect problems before you even notice suspicious activity or unexpectedly find your own brand advertising on social networks. To detect manually, you often have to monitor twenty-four hours a day, from different devices with different geos. Utilities do it for you, providing all the information «as on the palm»

Monitoring tool such as BluePear will enhance your brand protection efforts. This service operates continuously, tracking activities across various geographical locations and devices. It captures essential information, including ad headlines, domains, referral IDs, and even takes screenshots of advertising content. BluePear's comprehensive monitoring capabilities enable you to detect such activity in for reliable proofs.

Ultimately, brand protection is a long-term investment in a brand's resilience and commitment to quality, which can make a big difference in a competitive world.