classifiedluxurygoods

BrandjackingIndexSpecialEditionLuxuryGoodsContentsExecutiveSummary3KeyFindings3HowFraudstersDriveTrafc5RoguesGallery7Summary9Methodology&Background9Glossary10SpecialEdition-LuxuryGoodsBrandjackingIndexE-commercesitesellingsuspiciousbagsgeneratesmorethanfivemillionvisitsannually3BrandjackingIndex:2010-SpecialEditionExecutiveSummaryEveryonewantsabargain,butwhenitcomestobuyingluxuryhandbagsandotherpremiumgoodsonline,thedealsareoftentoogoodtobetrue.
Giventhelureofthesebrands,however,itisnosurprisethatweb-savvypurveyorsofsuspiciousgoodslureonlineshopperstotheirsites.
Whatissurprising,however,istheamountofonlinetrafficgeneratedbythesescammers:visitstosuspicioussitesnumbernearlyhalfthetrafficgeneratedbythelegitimatedotcomsites.
InthisspecialeditionoftheBrandjackingIndex,welookatonlinebrandabusesintheluxuryconsumergoodssector.
Itisn'taprettypicture,despitethesmoothbutteryleatherexteriorthatmanyoftherealhandbagsoffer.
Tocompleteouranalysis,weexaminedecommercesites,business-to-business(B2B)tradingsitesandpaidsearchadvertisingforfivespecificluxurygoodsbrandsfrommajorEuropeandesignhouses.
KeyFindingsWefoundthatpurveyorsofsuspectedcounterfeitgoodsareveryvisibleacrosstheInternet,andtheyarealsoverygoodatgeneratingtraffic.
Throughvarioussearchenginemarketingtechniques,thebadguysattractatleast120millionvisitorsannuallytotheirecommercesites.
Thisfigurerepresentsalmosthalfthetrafficattractedbythelegitimatedotcomsitesforthosebrands.
Aswithotherindustriesthatwehaveexamined,wefoundthatcybersquatting—themisleadingpracticeofincludingabrandnamewithinthedomainnameit-self—ispopularintheluxurysector.
Weidentifiedmorethan1,200websitesthatcontainoneofthefiveluxurybrandsinourstudy.
Noneofthosewebsiteshadanyrightstothatbrand,and,thus,hadnorighttousethebrandinthedomainname.
Therearethousandsmoredomainnamesthatdon'tcontainanybrandnamesbutpurporttobelegitimateonlinelocationssellingrealgoods.
However,thesesites,too,arestockedfullofsuspiciousgoods.
Onesite,handbagcom.
com,sellsnothingbuthandbagsofsuspiciousprovenance.
""Sellersofsuspectedfakesareadeptatdrivingwebtraffic.
Suspiciousgoodsonline,studyoffiveluxurybrands4BrandjackingIndex:2010-SpecialEditionSearchengineadvertisingisanotherimportantinvestmentthatgeneratestraffictothesesitesandtheadvertisersdon'talways'playbytherules'.
Weidenti-fiedmorethan50differentvendorswhopurchasedkeywordsinvolvingthefivebrandnamesinourstudy.
Usingbrandedkeywordstodrivetraffictositesofferingcounterfeitorpiratedgoodsisagainsttherulesateachofthe'bigthree'searchengines.
However,thesearchenginesdonotpreventormonitorthistypeofbe-havior.
Instead,thebrandmustinitiateactionwiththesearchenginestoremovetheoffendingads.
Questionablequalityisn'tlimitedtotheretailsector,either.
Whenitcomestothewholesalesupplychain,wefoundalmost4,000sellersofsuspiciousgoodsonbusiness-to-business(B2B)exchangesitesforjustthesefivebrandnames.
Thesesellersgeneratedalmost12,000listingsforsuspiciousgoodson12B2Bexchangesandoftenadvertisetheabilitytosupplyuptothousands—andsome-timesmillions—ofpiecesperyear.
TheaveragesellingpriceontheB2Bexchang-esforthesegoodsisalittlemorethan$100,oronaverage80%belowtheretailpricesofgenuinemerchandise.
Inadditiontothee-commercesitesandB2Bexchanges,weidentifiedmorethan1,400suspectcounterfeitsellerson10business-to-consumer(B2C)exchanges,includingauctionsitesandclassifiedadsites.
Thesesellersgeneratedalmost3,600additionallistings.
Thedistributionofthesesellersistrulyglobalaswell,with55%ofthesellerslocatedinNorthAmerica,29%inAsiaPacificand16%throughoutEurope.
TheaveragesellingpriceforthesegoodsacrossallB2Csitesisalittlemorethan$300,oronaverage,45%belowtheretailpricesoftherealmerchandise.
Asummaryofourfindingsisshownbelow.
""Suspicioussitesgeneratedalmosthalfthetrafficoflegitimatesites.
Commonwayscustomersfindbrandsviasearch""Suspectedcounter-feiterssiphonactualprospectsawayfrom'therealdeal'.
5BrandjackingIndex:2010-SpecialEditionHowFraudstersDriveTrafficTheoperatorsofthesesitesaresophisticated,andusethesamepromotionalmethodsthatlegitimateonlinemarketersusetoattractvisitors.
Threeofthemostcommonmethodsusedtofindwebsitesare:Directnavigation,typingthedomainnameintothebrowser.
Organicsearch,selectingasitefromthenaturalsearchresultsorsearchengineresultspage(SERP);searchengineoptimization(SEO)isakeytechniqueusedbylegitimatesitestoincreasetheirplacementontheSERP.
Paidsearchads,selectingasitefromasponsoredadshownontheSERPasaresultoftheadvertiserpurchasingkeywordstogeneraterelevantads.
Howfraudstersstealsearchtraffic""Legitimateluxurymarketersarecom-petingwithsuspect-edcounterfeitersforwebtraffic.
6BrandjackingIndex:2010-SpecialEditionFraudstersexploitthesemethodsbytakingadvantageoflegitimatebrandnamesandinteractivemarketingtechniquestostealtraffic:Cybersquatting,thepracticeofabusingtrademarkswithinthedomainnamesystem.
Scammersregisterdomainnamesthatincludewell-knownbrands,suchas"guccioutlet.
com",andintercepttrafficsearchingforthelegitimatebrand.
BlackhatSEO,acollectionoftechniques,includingcybersquatting,toincreasesiterankings.
Additionaltechniquesincludeusingtheactualbrandinpagetitlesandmetatagsaswellashavingalargenumberofinboundlinks.
Thesetechniquesaredesignedtotrickthesearchenginesintothinkingsitesarelegitimateattheexpenseoftheactualbrandedsite.
Paidsearchscams,thepracticeofbuyingbrandedkeywordstogenerateadsforsitesofferingsuspectedcounterfeitgoods.
Thispracticeinterceptstrafficmeantforthelegitimatesitesanddrivesupthecostforpurchasingbrandedkeywordsfortherightfulbrandoraffiliatedresellers.
Cybersquattedsitesellscompetitivebrands,tooPaidsearchscamexploitingapopularluxurybrand7BrandjackingIndex:2010-SpecialEditionAsearchforseasonalsalesofaleadingluxurybrandgeneratedaclearexampleofapaidsearchscam,withthefollowingadontheSERP.
Theadinturnledtoacybersquattedsitesellingsuspectedcounterfeitgoods.
RoguesGalleryThesesitesappearprofessionallyproducedandgenerateappreciabletraffic.
Thisexampleofasitewithacybersquattednamesellssuspiciousqualitygoodsfromawidevarietyofluxurylabels.
Thesitegeneratesvisitsinexcessof400,000peryear.
BlackhatSEOtechniquesdrivesubstantialtrafficattheexpenseofthelegitimatebrandBulkmanufacturersofsuspiciousgoodsuseB2Bexchangesitestopromotetheirbusiness8BrandjackingIndex:2010-SpecialEditionInthisexample,blackhatSEOtechniquesdrivesignificanttraffic,withthesiteattracting3.
3millionvisitsannually.
Thissiteusesacombinationoftechniques—cybersquatting,includingthebrandnameinthemetatagsandpagetitle,aswellaslargenumbersofinboundlinks.
Thesetechniquespropelthesitetoanumberonepositioninorganicsearchfortheterm'LouisVuittononsale'.
Bulkmanufacturersofquestionable-qualitybrandedgoodsaresimilarlyadeptatshowcasingtheircapabilities.
ThisB2Bexchangesitelistingclaimsthemanufacturercansupplymorethan52,000unitsannuallyfor$10to$15periteminlotsofuptoathousandpieces.
9BrandjackingIndex:2010-SpecialEditionSummaryTheamountoftrafficflowingtositesofferingsuspiciousluxurygoodsisstartlingandspeaksasmuchtoconsumerdemandasitdoestotheinteractivemarketingsavvyofsiteoperators.
Whileit'sdebatablethatthepersonwhopurchasesa$100fakehandbagisanactualcustomerfortherealitem,thefactthatsuspicioussitespromotingthesefiveluxurybrandsgeneratemorethan120millionvisitsannuallyindicatesthatactualprospectsarebeingsiphonedawayfrom'therealdeal'bysuspectedcounterfeiters.
Ifeven10%ofthosevisitsrepresentvalidcustomerprospectsforluxuryproducts,then12millionvisitsperyeararebeingledawayfromtheirdesireddestination—andinteractivemarketersintheluxurysegmentarepayingthepriceinlostsales.
Tomakemattersworse,thelegitimateluxurymarketersarecompetingagainstcounterfeiterstopurchasetheirownbrandsaskeywords,drivingupthecostsoflegitimateonlinemarketingcampaignsandimpact-ingcampaignmetricsandROI.
Astheluxurysegment—andluxurybuyers—continuetoembracetheInternet,it'svitalthattheindustrytakesaimatonlinecounterfeiters,paidsearchscamsandotherformsofonlinebrandabuseinordertoreapthefullestreturnfromtheirpreciousbrandsandcarefullycultivatedimages.
MethodologyandBackgroundTheBrandjackingIndexisproducedbyMarkMonitorandanalyzestrendsandstatisticsaboutbrandabuseonlineaswellasanecdotalinformationaboutthebusinessandtechnicalmethodsusedbybrandjackers.
ThecornerstoneoftheBrandjackingIndexisthevolumeofpublicdataanalyzedbyMarkMonitorusingthecompany'sproprietaryalgorithms.
Noneofthisdatacontainsproprietarycustomerinformation.
ThisspecialeditionoftheBrandjackingIndexdrewconclusionsbasedondatafrommajorsearchengines,onlinemarketplaces,WhoisrecordsandAlexatrafficestimates.
10BrandjackingIndex:2010-SpecialEditionGlossaryBrandjacking–Tohijackabrandtodeceiveordivertattention;oftenusedinabusiveorfraudulentactivitiesdevisedforgainattheexpenseofthegoodwill,brandequityandcustomertrustofactualbrandowners.
BlackHatSEO–Theuseofbrands,slogansortrademarkslocatedinvisibletext,hiddentext,metatagsandtitleinordertomanipulatesearchenginerankingssothatthebrandjacker'ssitecangainamorefavorablesearchengineplacement.
Cybersquatting–Thepracticeofabusingtrademarkswithinthedomainnamesystem.
DomainKiting–Theprocesswherebydomainsareregisteredanddroppedwithinthefive-dayICANNgraceperiod,andthenregisteredagainforanotherfivedays.
Kitingadomainletstheregistrantgainthebenefitofownershipwithouteverpayingforthedomain.
eCommerceContent–Websitescontainingaspecifiedbrandthatappearsinvisibletext,hiddentext,metatagsortitleinconjunctionwithothersitecontentthatindicatesonlinesalesarebeingtransactedonthesite.
FalseAssociation–Thepracticeofusingaspecifiedbrandortrademarkinwebcontenttoimplyarelationshipwithacompanyorbrandwherenoneexists.
OffensiveContent–Websitescontainingaspecifiedbrandthatappearsinvisibletext,hiddentext,metatagsortitleinconjunctionwithpornographic,onlinegamingorhatecontent.
PaidSearchScams–Occurwhenabrandisusedwithoutpermission,withinapaidsearchscenariotodrivewebtraffictoacompetitiveorillicitsite.
Phishing–Criminaluseofemailtodiverttraffictowebsitesinordertofraudulentlyacquireusernames,passwords,creditcarddetailsandotherpersonalinformation.
Theemailandwebsitesusedintheseoperationsemploy"socialengineering"techniquestotrickusersintobelievingtheyareinteractingwithabusinessororganizationthattheytrust.
RockPhishing–Amethodofphishingfirstimplementedbythe'rock'phishgangthatutilizesmultiplelayersofredundantinfrastructuretoincreasethedifficultyofshuttingdowntheattack.
Otherphishersarenowusingthesetacticsaswell.
AboutMarkMonitorMarkMonitor,thegloballeaderinenterprisebrandprotection,offerscomprehensivesolutionsandservicesthatsafeguardbrands,reputationandrevenuefromonlinerisks.
Withend-to-endsolutionsthataddressthegrowingthreatsofonlinefraud,brandabuseandunauthorizedchannels,MarkMonitorenablesasecureInternetforbusinessesandtheircustomers.
Thecompany'sexclusiveaccesstodatacombinedwithitspatentedreal-timeprevention,detectionandresponsecapabilitiesprovidewide-rangingprotectiontotheever-changingonlinerisksfacedbybrandstoday.
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