Amazon's Brandhijacker: Pay attention to your brand

When customers search for a brand on Amazon, they are largely shown articles that have nothing to do with the brand they are looking for. The reason: so-called brand hijackers. These book selected brand keywords on Amazon in order to be placed in the search results of the brands, and thus to profit from the brand's appeal and pick off potential buyers.

A sample analysis by technology provider Tools4ads showed that, for example, 85 percent of search results for the brand keyword "Nespresso" are the result of free riders. "It is not illegal to book other people's brand names as keywords in order to show up in the corresponding search results on Amazon. So that brand companies are not helplessly at the mercy of these brand hijackers, they have to know what is going on. Only then can they develop a strategy to counter this accordingly. After all, we are talking about hard cash here," says Wolfhart Fröhlich, CEO at Tools4ds. Using Nespresso as an example, Fröhlich gives an overview of the different types of brand hijackers.

The four types of Amazon fire hijackers

An example: Senseo books the keyword Nespresso and thus places its products in the search results of Nespresso. This is of course a lucrative business for Senseo with little effort. This is why brand bidding on Amazon is also used intensively by many other companies. For their brand, it is important to know who books on their keyword and why. There are four types of providers:

1. the hardcore brand hijacker is a direct competitor selling a similar product. Example: Senseo wants to place its coffee machine directly next to Nespresso products. Senseo books the keyword "Nespresso" and can thus poach its customers.

2. the free rider is a supplier who offers consumables to the searched brand. Example: A no-name brand sells capsules that fit into a Nespresso machine. The brand books the keyword "Nespresso" and can thus bring its no-name products to the relevant prospects.

3. the supplier is a provider of accessories. Example: A no-name brand has a capsule stand in its range, which is used to store Nespresso-like capsules. The brand books the keyword "Nespresso" and can thus place its no-name accessories next to the original Nespresso accessories.

4. the self-booker. Example: Nespresso books the keyword Nespresso itself. There may be practical reasons for this, but it often happens without any specific reason. Of course, Nespresso would be the first result for the corresponding search query even without self-booking.

The strategy against annoying fire hijackers

Tools4Ads advises: First of all, set up 24/7 monitoring for your brand. If there are already brand hijackers booking on your brand name, bid on your brand yourself to drive up the keyword price and make it unattractive for the competitor. However, this strategy should only be used temporarily, as the approach costs too much money in the long run. In general, keep an eye on your brand and check regularly what is changing in terms of brand bidding on your keyword.

BGH ruling: Recently, some brands in Germany sued Amazon for trademark infringement. The plaintiffs cited the brandbidding of other brands on the sales platform as the reason. At the end of February this year, the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) issued a ruling on this issue: The BGH makes the infringement of trademark rights dependent on whether customers can distinguish the competing products from the branded products - otherwise it would be consumer deception. Although not clear-cut, the decision is in favor of brandbidding.