4 Warning Signs to Look Out for

Is Your Website’s Online Traffic Being Hijacked? 4 Warning Signs to Look Out for

Is Your Website’s Online Traffic Being Hijacked? 4 Warning Signs to Look Out for

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Does it ever happen to you that you enter your company name into an online search engine – expecting your page to appear right at the top – but then see other companies’ ads?

This is an experience that more and more companies are having: ads with your company name in the hope of hijacking your customers.

This is also known as brand bidding. Not only is this not compliant with the rules of online advertising, but it quietly costs you money. In this article, we list 4 signs of brand bidding for you so you know what to be on the lookout for.

4 Warning Signs to Look Out for That Your Website’s Online Traffic Being Hijacked

1. Your Ads Suddenly Become More Expensive

Your Ads Suddenly Become More Expensive

One of the quickest ways to find out if others are using your company name is by watching your marketing budget. Most companies – and presumably you, too – bid on their company name through ad systems, so consumers always see it first.

But if there are suddenly others who also incorporate your name into their ads, the demand for that ad space increases, and so does the price.

2. Customers Let You Know They Can’t Find You

Another clear signal, of course, is when you start hearing it from customers themselves. After all, fiddling with the site is much more apparent to consumers than to you.

If you are starting to hear this regularly from customers, it is in your best interest to catch on as soon as possible and close the gap. Many companies use a brand bidding monitoring tool, such as BluePear. This way, you can quickly find out if there are companies misusing your brand name.

3. Your Market Analysis Shows Strange Patterns

While this might sound like a vague warning signal, again, this is well reflected in the numbers, and thus relatively easy to demonstrate. The number of people who search for you and then click is probably very high – after all, they specifically typed in your company name.

Your Market Analysis Shows Strange Patterns

If you start to see a clear percentage dip in the number of people visiting your website compared to how many people type your company’s name in search engines, this could indicate that competitors are intercepting your traffic.

What makes this particularly concerning is that brand searches typically have the highest conversion rates. These are customers who already know and trust your brand enough to search for it specifically.

Keep a close eye on these patterns, especially if you notice sudden changes without having made any significant changes to your website or advertising strategy yourself.

4. Your Position in the Market is Deteriorating

When competitors start using your name to advertise, it is not just about lost clicks and more money spent on advertising – ultimately, your position in the market will start to worsen.

As a direct consequence, customers will mention the price of competitors more often during sales conversations, and some will even click the competing ads and buy there, directly costing you valuable customers.

Think of it this way: every time a customer enters your name in the search bar but sees 3 or 4 competitor ads first, it changes their mindset from ‘let’s buy here!’ to ‘Hmm, let’s carefully compare and see which one is best.’ Over time, this systematic interference will bring down even the strongest brands.

Conclusion

Brand bidding isn’t just about lost clicks and higher advertising costs fundamentally, it is about protecting the brand you have worked so hard to build.

When others start using your name to increase sales, they’re not just competing for attention; they are actively working to intercept your clients.

The good news is, however, that by staying vigilant and catching it early, you can take plenty of steps in order to make sure that your business remains well-protected and clients keep finding their way to your online store.

Document any suspicious advertising activity, and consider using specialized monitoring tools to catch brand bidding attempts early. Remember: your brand name is one of your most valuable assets – and it’s worth protecting.

Author Profile

Christy Bella
Christy Bella
Blogger by Passion | Contributor to many Business and Marketing Blogs in the United Kingdom | Fascinated with SEO and digital marketing and latest tech innovations |