Brand protection is the ongoing work of finding and removing fakes that use your name, logo or products, such as lookalike domains, fake social profiles, fake apps and fraudulent ads. A program gives that work an owner, a list of assets, a way to collect evidence and a routine. This guide shows the steps in order.
- 01Brand protection is a routine of listing, watching, collecting evidence and requesting removal.
- 02Start with the fakes your customers meet most, such as lookalike domains and fake profiles.
- 03Evidence and an official asset list make removal requests stronger.
- 04One named owner and a shared case list keep security, legal and support aligned.
Which Fakes Should You Tackle First?
For the short definition, see the brand protection glossary entry. This guide is about building the program.
Fakes appear in many places, so a new program starts by choosing. Look at where your customers meet you and where a copy would do the most harm.
- 01 Lookalike login pageStart here
- 02 Copied appStart here
- 03 Adverts using your nameAdd later
- 04 Fake executive profilesAdd later
Start with the top two and add more later. A short list that is checked every week beats a long list that is checked once.
Step One: List What You Own.
You cannot protect what you have not listed. Write down your brand names, logos, product names, official domains, official social accounts and official app listings. Add the names of the executives attackers are most likely to copy.
- 01Brand names
- 02Logos
- 03Product names
- 04Official domains
- 05Official social accounts
- 06Official app listings
- 07Executives attackers are most likely to copy
Step Two: Watch The Places Fakes Appear.
Different fakes appear in different places, so each needs its own watch.
Doing this by hand does not scale, because new fakes appear every day. Most teams automate the discovery and keep a person for the decisions.
Step Three: Collect Evidence And Request Removal.
For each fake, save a screenshot, the address, the date and the reason it is a copy. Then send the request to the party that can act.
You can also report a phishing page to Google Safe Browsing and Microsoft SmartScreen so browsers start to warn visitors while the takedown is pending.
For domain disputes there is also a formal route, the ICANN Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP). If you want a team to do this for you, see Brandefense brand protection services.
Step Four: Decide Who Owns What.
A program fails when nobody owns it. Name one person who runs the list and the watch. Agree with legal when a case should move to a formal complaint. Agree with customer support what to tell customers who report a scam.
Security, legal, marketing and fraud teams all see parts of the problem. A shared channel and a shared case list keep them from working on the same fake twice.
How To Measure A Brand Protection Program.
Pick four numbers and write down the starting value in month one.
- 01 Time from a fake appearing to its removal. Should improve
- 02 Share of removal requests that succeed. Should improve
- 03 Number of fakes that come back after removal. Should fall
- 04 Customer reports of scams, from support and fraud teams. Should fall
Review them monthly. If the first two improve and the last two fall, the program is working.
Brandefense brand impersonation and takedown covers discovery, evidence and removal requests in one workflow. For domains, phishing and domain abuse monitoring checks 2.4M+ new domains a day with 35+ typosquatting algorithms and reports fakes to 4,200+ registrar and hosting abuse contacts. For a vendor comparison, use the brand protection buyer’s guide.
Questions.
No. Trademark rights help in a formal dispute, but most day-to-day work is finding fakes and asking registrars, hosts and platforms to remove them.
