What is PPC brand bidding?

(also known as trademark bidding)

PPC brand bidding involves bidding for brand terms of a third-party, usually a competitor so that people who type in those brand terms will be directed to your site instead of the competitor.

For example, if you search for "wordpress", you might get the Bluehost ad as the first result. This strategy effectively steals visitors who're interested in WordPress hosting, but on wordpress.com itself:

Competitors use this strategy to grab traffic from other sites by placing ads pointing to their websites.

While this might seem like an unfair way to attract new customers (in some cases, it is!), there are some excellent use cases too. One of them is called brand bidding affiliate marketing. When you're doing affiliate campaigns, you can bid for specific keywords and brands so that your affiliates' sites appear higher up in search results. That's a win-win scenario for both you and another brand, as you're still selling their products. However, process this with caution, as not all affiliate partners would like this strategy.

Is brand bidding legal?

In most cases - yes. But the better answer is - it depends.

• You can't bid on your competitor's trademarks.
• You don't want to insult them or add unfair claims/misleading facts.
• But you can bid on their non-trademarked keywords.

So it's legal to use your competitor's name as a keyword if you check the trademark first. You can also bid on competitor keywords, slogans, or catchphrases, as long as they're non-protected too.

"No-harm" brand bidding for e-commerce example

There are some good reasons why you should bid on brand keywords. For example, if you have an eCommerce store, you could bid on branded keywords such as "Nike sneakers" or "Adidas shoes". These words are highly competitive, but they're also trendy among shoppers. People searching for these terms probably have buying intent so it might be worth it.

"Sneaky" brand bidding for SAAS example

You could bid on your direct competitor's brand name + high buying intent keyword if you’re running SAAS. A good example might be "Competitor pricing". That way, you could provide potential leads with an alternative of more attractive pricing options.

However, always have in mind that it's a double-edged sword. Your competitor can bid against your non-trademarked keywords anytime too. And that's especially true if he catches you doing that in the first place.

So, should I bid on branded terms? It all depends upon the situation and calculated risks. Unfortunately, there's no definitive answer.

Brand bidding on your own keywords example

If a competitor is bidding against your non-trademarked brand, there's probably only one way to fight back your leads - you should bid on your own brand name. Of course, it might create frustration that it's your brand, and you see somebody else displayed in a better position. And, even worse, you have to pay for Google ads to rank higher on your own branded search results. But there are good reasons why it could be less painful than you think:

• You'll have a lot higher keyword score on Google ads, so your CPC will be a lot lower than your competitor.
• You don't have to outbid them 100% of the time across all countries, only on the markets where you have a genuine interest.
• The recovered lead is likely to spend more and cover your ads expenses.

It's a new reality. A lot of companies are doing this:

1. Amazon vs. Walmart
2. Nike vs. Adidas
3. Apple vs. Samsung

Final thoughts - is branded keywords a waste of money?

Yes and No.

You've probably seen some examples where people made a lot of money by bidding on brand terms. And then you've also seen other instances where people lost hundreds of dollars because they didn't know what they were doing. So it's not easy.

That being said, there are many different ways to get started. Start small by doing something simple first. Start with a $1 daily budget, and work your budget up from there. If you're having difficulty finding profitable keywords, try looking for niche ones. They're usually less competitive than others, so you can often get a decent return on investment.

Finally, remember to protect your own brand name terms. You might not know if your competitors are bidding against you. You can easily address it with SerpWall. Start a free trial today. No credit card is required.