This Friday officially kicks off the holiday shopping season (though if the emails I’ve been getting this week and this TechCrunch article are any indication, it’s already started). While we at BrandVerity look forward to the advent of holiday decorations, peppermint mochas, and really great deals just as much as everyone else, we also know that Black Friday can see a major uptick in the amount of brand bidding and trademark infringement appearing in paid search.
We wrote a bit about Black Friday and the attendant increase in non-compliant affiliate tactics last year. If you’re a merchant, this might be a good time to review the information there, in our Resellers series, and in our Guide to Affiliate Compliance. Because marketing teams tend to be swamped at this time of year, compliance issues can slip under the radar. The sheer quantity, however, of shopping during the holidays makes it imperative for brands and merchants to know exactly who is bidding on their brand terms and what those advertisers are promoting. The potential losses to non-compliant partners of all sorts can seriously eat into your expected Black Friday profits. Take the time now to review your agreements and remind your affiliates, resellers, and other partners of what you have agreed upon in order to avoid issues over the holiday weekend.
Watch this space next week for a recap of trends we noticed in paid search leading up to and on Black Friday. While we hope there won’t be much new to report--as that would mean everybody played fair this week--we expect that we’ll have some interesting examples to share.
To our US readers, have a happy, healthy, and compliant Thanksgiving, and to our international readers, we’ll see you in December!
