BrandVerity announced the launch of PoachMark, a service to help identify and stop trademark abuse in paid search ads.
PoachMark identifies the websites, keywords and affiliate IDs utilized by affiliates as they market through paid search. The technology provides a suite of tools to detect affiliates and partners violating pre-existing agreements governing paid search by utilizing a distributed network of servers, coupled with monitoring agents capable of detecting many of the techniques used by affiliates to hide themselves, including referrer laundering, javascript interstitials, day-parting and reverse geotargeting.
Many merchants that offer affiliate programs have been forced to forbid paid search marketing entirely, as some affiliates opt to continue promoting offers using brand-related terms despite warnings not to. Those merchants using a solution such as PoachMark can benefit by saving commissions paid to fraudulent affiliates, and ultimately improve the performance of their brand keywords and by gaining a stronger ability to control their brand's messaging.
"Now brand owners can find trademark abuse that was previously invisible," said David Naffziger, BrandVerity CEO. "We're excited to finally give marketers a service that allows them to protect their brands by shining a light on the often murky relationships between brands and their affiliates. PoachMark helps merchants prevent and recover fraudulent commissions."
This is not an inexpensive service. While merchants receive monitoring in eight countries, screen grabs of search results, affiliate ID search, 12x daily monitoring frequency, 100 search terms to monitor, the cost ($799/mo) will be prohibitive. There is a lite version available for smaller brands available at $246/mo) and a 15-day free trial is available.