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What Do You Do When A Competitor Is Bidding On Your Brand Name (and winning) In Adwords?

by Oneal Degrassi
21 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Most people would think - just bid more! But my Adwords budget isn't as much as my competitor's and it quickly runs dry.

Any ideas on how to keep the Google searchers from clicking on my competitor's purchased result...which appears above the #1 position, not in the sidebar.

I'm sure I am losing sales and leads because of this.

Has this happened to anyone else here before? What did you do? Any ideas?

Oneal
#adwords #bidding #brand #competitor #winning
  • Profile picture of the author Oneal Degrassi
    Tried moving to the Adwords forum - I can't see how to do it. sorry bout that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Torreylee
    Originally Posted by Oneal Degrassi View Post

    Most people would think - just bid more! But my Adwords budget isn't as much as my competitor's and it quickly runs dry.

    Any ideas on how to keep the Google searchers from clicking on my competitor's purchased result...which appears above the #1 position, not in the sidebar.

    I'm sure I am losing sales and leads because of this.

    Has this happened to anyone else here before? What did you do? Any ideas?

    Oneal
    Sorry, but it's pretty clear cut. If you are going beat them you have to bid more, that's the way the game is played.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Peters Benn
    Firstly, ensure your brand is registered and your domain is older than theirs. Secondly complain to Google. Thirdly, DCMA them.

    It's worked for us in the past.
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    • Profile picture of the author KirkMcD
      Originally Posted by Steve Peters Benn View Post

      Firstly, ensure your brand is registered and your domain is older than theirs. Secondly complain to Google. Thirdly, DCMA them.
      Brand name keyword bidding is not against the rules in the US and Canada and some other countries.
      Displaying the brand name, on the other hand, may or may not be against the rules depending on the circumstances.


      I've tried upping my budget, but the competitor just counters with a higher bid.
      Sorry, that's how advertising works. You try to beat the competition.

      You need to get more value out of the customers you are getting, though, so that you can afford to bid more. Are you marketing to them at your full potential? Many companies don't make much, if any money (some even lose money) on the initial purchase, because they know they will make it up on the back end.

      You could also try advertising against their brand name.
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  • Profile picture of the author Oneal Degrassi
    I've tried upping my budget, but the competitor just counters with a higher bid. They're obviously on top of their game. It kind of ticks me off that, because of all this, I should have to give Google money (via Adwords - and it's not a shabby number either) in order to hold the number 1 spot for our own name. Rediculous.

    Thanks, Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Peters Benn
    If that doesn't work, call them out as a SCAM - say something like "the REAL xxxx. Beware Of SCAMMERS' type thing.

    This is really something you can push onto Google though.
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  • Profile picture of the author O0o0O
    Amazon Associates aren't allowed to bid on the word "Amazon" or any version of the word. If they do and they get caught, they get banned. You can do something similar with your brand name. Create a policy, contact your competitor and ask them to stop.
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    • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
      I think you need to give more information.

      Is this competitor selling your product as an affiliate?
      Is this competitor pretending to sell your product, but actually selling something else?
      Or - is your question misleading, and it isn't actually your product at all, and you are both selling as affiliates for someone else?
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  • Profile picture of the author Karan Goel
    I would suggest you 2 steps:

    1. Make sure your brand is registered
    2. Send them some legal notice

    BANG!!
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  • Profile picture of the author Grommeman
    You obviously bid more, it is a smart tactic to do and you will have to up your game.
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  • Profile picture of the author patadeperro
    Most of the people that are giving their opinion here it is clear that never have been in a PPC War, you cant sue them (what if your trade mark is in USA and they are bidding from China?), you can outbid them because they have bigger budget, the only thing you can REALLY DO is:

    WRITE BETTER COPY THAN THEY DO IN YOUR ADS

    Why? because with a better copy in your ads your CTR will increase, if your CTR increases then you have possibilities to appear before your competition EVEN IF YOU ARE PAYING LESS PER CLICK than your competition.

    Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author sparkman
    If it's legal to bid on keywords from other companies, return the favor. Your "defense" method is not strong enough. It's time to go on the offense and bring the pain to their doorstep.
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  • Profile picture of the author sparkman
    I just thought of another one...how about you get an SEO company to work their magic for you to rank on the keywords for your competitor? Then you get what they're paying for FREE.
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  • Profile picture of the author outwest
    other than that, if you have a trademark on the name isnt them bidding on your name, technically using your name in business? and isnt that illegal if you own the trademark
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  • Profile picture of the author daddykool
    Stop wasting money on adwords and start spending money on natural / exact match domains and landers, then you will just simply be listed like your *competitors* but at little or no cost after 6 months of dev!
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    • Profile picture of the author CBMoneymachine
      People bidding on your brand terms is pretty annoying but it happens & I'm sure that you will be bidding on other peoples brand terms.

      If you are being outbid then you need to work on your quality score so that you can get the best possible position for your click price.

      It could be an idea to re-write your ads and include your brand name along with ® after it. It gives your ads a bit of authority & should draw the users attention away from your competitor. Surely if people are searching by brand then your cost per conversion for those keywords should be lower then your more generic terms. Are you sure you can't bid a bit higher for them when you look at the cost per conversion?
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      • Profile picture of the author Kay King
        I'm not clear on your question. Is this YOUR trademarked brand name - or the brand name of the product you are selling?

        Is this a competitor selling the same product - or someone encroaching on your registered brand name?

        kay
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        • Profile picture of the author Oneal Degrassi
          Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

          I'm not clear on your question. Is this YOUR trademarked brand name - or the brand name of the product you are selling?

          Is this a competitor selling the same product - or someone encroaching on your registered brand name?

          kay
          It is my brand and they have a competing brand - no affiliate stuff going on at all. The brand is registered and has been for many years (1971) and is known worldwide in this particular industry, much longer than they have even been around. My ad is appearing in the second of three ads above the organic results.

          I'm not a "small guy" in this industry by any means and I outrank them for most organic search terms, including of course, the branded terms. The problem is that my competitor has a bigger PPC budget.

          Let's say I am Coke and they are Pepsi (I wish). They are bidding on the term "Coke" but they are not using the word "Coke" in the ad...they're just showing up in the number one position of three ads at the top, above the organic results.

          Make sense?
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  • Profile picture of the author paulgl
    Originally Posted by Oneal Degrassi View Post

    Most people would think - just bid more! But my Adwords budget isn't as much as my competitor's and it quickly runs dry.

    Any ideas on how to keep the Google searchers from clicking on my competitor's purchased result...which appears above the #1 position, not in the sidebar.

    I'm sure I am losing sales and leads because of this.

    Oneal
    I doubt if you have a "brand name" that someone else wants to bid on. If this
    were true, you would just sit back and reap the profits from the sales. Like
    apple, etc. They don't care where you buy an ipad from. Bid on the name!
    They won't have to spend a dime. So I think Kay King is on to something.

    Second, your original post gives quite a clue. You claim their ad is
    ABOVE the results. A little guy like yourself is then up against a giant. Those
    ads do not go to the highest bidder. (Yes they are taken from the paid ad pool)
    But they get on top due to the highest (and I mean highest) rate of success.
    They have earned the reputation as being top dog. Very few ads are
    eligible for these positions.

    Those are special advertisers. Advertisers who rock and rock big. Why on
    earth would a hugely successful business care about a little guy's product.

    So I think you need to clarify a whole bunch of things. Like maybe your
    "brand name" is a horse of a different color. Maybe you should change your
    brand name so it does not conflict with another successful business.

    Since google places ads due to other things, you could never, ever outbid
    them for the top spot. They are probably not outbidding you. They just
    have an over-the-top QS and have been rewarded with the top spot
    no matter how much you bid. Many people do not know that.

    Paul
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