Mumbai: Online abuse of many of the world’s leading brands rose in 2008, a year the global economy went into a tailspin, according to the latest Brandjacking Index compiled by MarkMonitor Inc., a US-based firm that specializes in Internet fraud prevention and brand protection.
Also See Brandjacking: A Rising Threat (Graphic)
For the second year in a row, cybersquatting—using a domain name with the intent of profiting from the goodwill of someone else’s trademark—ranked as the brandjacker’s tool of choice, with such cases posting an 18% increase in 2008.
Phishing attacks—attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity—against financial services brands increased 51% in the second half of last year, a rise MarkMonitor attributes to the financial market tumult.
The report also discloses that 80% of abusive sites identified in 2007 are still active today, a signal for brandholders to take a stronger stance against fraudsters, say MarkMonitor officials.
“Brandjackers are honing their techniques as they continue building their revenue on the good names of leading brands globally,” Frederick Felman, chief marketing officer of MarkMonitor, said in a statement. “We expect attacks to grow both internationally and in complexity, further increasing the threat to organizations’ reputations and revenues.”
And while the issue is still nascent here, brandjacking is a potential threat to India.
“As more and more Indian brands reach the global stage, they, too, will be subjected to these abuses. Well-known brands drive traffic...and brand abuse like cybersquatting relies on traffic,” Te Smith, vice-president at Mark Monitor, said in an email reply to queries from Mint.
Given the potential threat, Smith says Indian brandholders and brand management professionals need to put aholistic strategy in place to protect their brands from abuse.
Action should include monitoring online channels—auction sites, B2B (business-to-business) exchanges, e-commerce sites—for unauthorized distribution (counterfeits and gray market goods), being on the lookout for trademark abuse on the Internet and watching for email-borne threats such as phishing attacks or even malware attacks.
“Remember, technology may have enabled the problem, but technology can also solve the problem,” Smith says.
Mahesh Murty, co-founder of digital agency Pinstorm, says some big online advertisers in India are squatting on keywords that happen to be their rivals’ brand names.
So, someone Google-searching for brand X could find an ad for rival Y served next to brand X’s website. This could take potential customers and business away from companies.
The reason companies do this is simple—consumers trust brands and look for them, especially when they’re in a mood to buy, he says.