About Hitwise

Hitwise is the leader in online competitive intelligence. Contact Hitwise to maximize your online marketing programs.

Hitwise Intelligence - Heather Hopkins - UK

Analyst Weblog

« Gas Prices Warning Leads to Increase in Visits to Price Comparison Sites | Ricky Gervais Most Searched for Podcast »

Trademark Protection Online

February 23, 2006

I noticed on Threadwatch.org and Search Engine Watch that Yahoo! Search Marketing Services is rumoured to be changing its trademark protection policy for advertisers. We are getting ready to publish a white paper on the topic of search engine brand management and so I have been following this topic closely.

In preparing the white paper I found that on average 85% of visits from searches for a brand name go to the brand owners site. 1 in 8 visits go to a price comparison, competitor or affiliate website. Brand owners will no doubt welcome the decision taken by Yahoo! Search Marketing Services, should the rumour prove true.

The challenges that marketers face in managing their brands online won't disappear. As online marketers well know, consumers often misspell a brand name or combine the brand name with generic keywords. The analysis I did for the white paper revealed that a far larger number of visits from misspellings and searches that combine a brand name with generic keywords send visits to competitor, affiliate and price comparison websites.

For example, while searches for 'ryanair' sent 88% of UK visits to www.ryanair.com in the four weeks ending 31st December 2005, searches for 'rynair', one of the most common misspellings of the brand, sent only 42% of UK visits to www.ryanair.com.

While 89% of searches for 'comet' sent UK visits to www.comet.co.uk, only 65% of searches for 'comet electricals' ended up on Comet's website. Searches for 'thomson holidays' sent 10% of UK visits to competitors and affiliates, higher than many other travel brands. This is likely due to the inclusion of the generic term 'holidays' in the brand name, a keyword to which competitors have unrestricted access in sponsored listings on search engines.

Brand owners should protect their trademarked brand name to the greatest extent possible on the search networks. These protections don't extend to misspellings and keyword combinations that include a protected brand name and so brand owners still need to actively manage their brands online.

In the white paper, I identify some best practices for managing a brand online. Click here to request a copy.

Website Search Terms Report for www.currys.co.uk. Four weeks ending 31st December 2005
Currys.co.uk website search terms.png