Risks of Unmonitored Paid Search Results

In this article we’ll explain why poorly tracked down online ads, including paid search results, can be a silent killer of your enterprise.

Unmonitored ads = Wasted effort

Sadly, “set it and forget it” doesn’t work anymore. Paid advertising in Google search may actually retain hidden rocks that can damage your whole online campaign. The dangers may vary from ambush marketing to ads hijacking.

Together with the online brand protection agency Bluepear, we’ve covered the top perils that may impact your brand due to neglected paid search result strategy.

1. Silent siphoning attacks

In this case, your enemies are almost countless: from dishonest rivals to resellers and shady affiliates. They often follow the same strategy:

  • Brand bidding. They bid on the keywords — by which Google identifies the target of a user’s query — that pertain to your business.These keywords can be anything: from your brand’s name to a title of a specific product that you make.
  • Traffic siphoning. After the keywords were borrowed, they now orchestrate an ads campaign based on them. That means, whenever someone searches for your company (or whatever you offer), Google will display to the viewer your nefariously grinning rivals instead of you.
  • Benefits ripping. There is barely any data on how ьфтн conversions a brand may lose, but the stats show that customers are prone to make a purchase from the first company they see in the SERP ranking.

Needless to say, it works. Otherwise, rivals and resellers wouldn’t cash out thousands of dollars on that tactic.

What to do: Outpace them and be the first to bid on your brand. Not only will it save your potential customers from being led astray. Also, you won’t have to liquidate painful consequences of dishonest brand bidding that can save you a handsome budget you’d otherwise throw at more advertising or even litigation.

2. Reputation at stake

It’s one thing when some teengares resell your shoes online to hustle for a quick buck. A true drama (or even tragedy) can spring from a situation when criminally inclined actors get a whiff of money coming from your brand name.

They can try and unleash their entire arsenal of wrongdoing:

  • Phishing. A perfectly recreated clone of your own website serves as a decoy for the customers. Thinking that it’s a legit outlet to place orders, they can unknowingly provide their sensitive details to the scammers. Phishing often goes hand in hand with dishonest brand bidding.
  • Brand safety. Your ads could appear on irrelevant, low-quality, or even inappropriate/straight criminal websites within the Google Display Network (GDN) if placement exclusions aren’t regularly reviewed.
  • Ambush marketing. If you plan some grandiose event — like giving out gift coupons or rolling out a new product — bad actors can exploit that too. For instance, counterfeit makers can exploit your promo-materials to advertise their own crappy fakes to harvest quick cash and then ride into the sunset until the next opportunity shows up.

What to do:

  • Spread awareness among the consumers, watch the affiliates, and closely monitor online activities that even vaguely relate to your company.
  • Report everything suspicious to Google and social media at once, so dishonest ads get taken down.

3. Lost opportunities hit the hardest

The digital landscape is alive, not static. What worked last month may not work the next. An unmonitored campaign fails to adapt and capitalize on new opportunities.

● Missing Negative Keywords

Imagine this: you sell handmade hiking boots, but your ad keeps popping up for people searching for “hiking boot camps” or “cleaning hiking boots.” You’re not just paying for those clicks, you’re waving down — and also exasperating — people who are looking for a completely different thing.

Without someone keeping an eye out, your ad budget is quietly slipping away, spent on convincing the wrong crowd to buy things they may not want. It’s like leaving your front door wide open and hoping only invited guests will come in.

● Ignoring Trends and Seasonality

You can’t just set your sails and expect to catch the right wind without proper adjusting and manoeuvring. When the holiday rush hits or a new trend sweeps through your industry, an unmonitored campaign is just there, drifting aimlessly. Meanwhile, your competitors are catching every gust, adjusting their sails to fly ahead. You’re not just missing the wind; you’re missing the entire voyage, leaving a sea of potential revenue untouched!

● A/B Testing Paralysis

You’re having the same conversation with your customers, day after day, using the same words. Does “Buy Now!” work better than “Discover More?” Does “Premium Quality” resonate more than “Built to Last?” If you never ask, you’ll never know. This isn’t just stagnation; it’s a continuous one-sided monologue.

Your competitors are listening, adapting, and starting conversations that people actually want to have. And the customers who want to engage in such conversation are your top priority. Do what the competitors do: they are learning the language of your target audience and get a bigger chance to win their attention.

What to do: 

  • Don’t let your ads just survive in the wilderness by themselves.
  • Create a laconic, calendar-based plan, that will adapt the paid search results to the current season and situation.
  • Try to collect feedback from the customers and see what strategies work best.
  • Aim to get rid of useless or even negative keywords that drive a wrong crowd to your brand.

Keep the finger on the pulse

Advertising isn’t like a premium online game where you can solve all issues with more and more money. You also need to put in honest effort to make sure it gives you the maximum ROI possible and poses no threat neither to the brand, nor to customers.