Brand Protection 101.

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.

• If customers log in or pay on your website, a lookalike login page is the first threat.
• If your customers use an app, a copy in an app store or on a download site comes next.
• If you advertise on search or social platforms, adverts that use your name need a watch.
• If your executives are public, fake profiles of them are a priority.

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.

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.

This list is also the proof that something is fake. A takedown request is stronger when it shows the official version next to the copy. Update the list whenever you launch a product, a domain or an account.

Different fakes appear in different places, so each needs its own watch.

• New domain registrations that look like yours, including swapped letters and added words. Certificate transparency logs and newly registered domain feeds are common sources.
• Social platforms, for profiles that use your name or logo.
• App stores and download sites, for apps that copy yours.
• Ad networks, for adverts that point to a fake page.

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.

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. For a website that is usually the registrar or the hosting company. For a profile, an app or an advert it is the platform: Google Ads, for instance, has a trademark complaint process, and Meta has a form to report impersonation.

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). It needs a trademark that the domain copies, costs a filing fee and usually takes about two months.

Follow up on every request. A site that goes down and comes back is a common pattern.

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. A simple rule helps: security finds and documents, legal decides on formal complaints, support answers customers.

Pick four numbers and write down the starting value in month one.

• Time from a fake appearing to its removal.
• Share of removal requests that succeed.
• Number of fakes that come back after removal.
• Customer reports of scams, from support and fraud teams.

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.