Brand Term Protection: How to Prevent Competitors from Hijacking Your Traffic?
Chapter 6: Advanced Practice · Question 94
When users search for your name, the first thing they see is a competitor's ad — that's "brand term hijacking." In the Chinese search market, this is a widespread and headache-inducing problem.
1. What Does Brand Term Hijacking Look Like?
Common Hijacking Forms
| Type | Specific manifestation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| SEM Bidding Hijacking | Competitors bid on your brand term for ads | Search "Luckin Coffee" and a Starbucks ad appears |
| SEO Content Hijacking | Competitors or third parties publish "How is Brand XX?" reviews | “Is Brand XX any good? We recommend trying YY” |
| Negative Content Occupying Space | Bad reviews and complaint posts rank on the first page of brand searches | “Brand XX scam" ranks on the first page |
| Encyclopedia/Zhihu Hijacking | Third parties seize brand-related entries on knowledge platforms | Brand encyclopedia entry edited by competitors to mislead |
Self-Check Method
Open Baidu and search the followingKeywordcombinations, then check the first two pages of results:
- Brand name
- Brand name + how is it
- Brand name + is it good
- Brand name + alternative/competitor
If more than 3 of the top 10 results are outside your control, your brand term protection has gaps.
2. Defense Strategy: Own the Entire First Page
The core logic of brand term protection isto have your own content occupy every position on the first page of search results, leaving no room for competitors.
Platforms to establish a presence on
- Official website homepage(must rank first)
- Baidu Baike: create/improve the brand entry
- Baidu Tieba: create an official Tieba and maintain it
- Zhihu: official brand account + positive answers
- WeChat Official Accounts: brand account articles (Baidu can index Sogou sources)
- Weibo official account
- Baijiahao/Toutiao account: publish brand-related content
- Industry vertical platforms: such as Dianping, Maimai, etc.
Goal: when searching the brand name, at least 7 of the top 10 results are content you control or that is positive.
III. Baidu Brand Zone
What is Brand Zone?
Baidu Brand Zone is Baidu's official brand protection product. When searching a brand keyword, a dedicated brand area (including Logo, official website link, sub-links, etc.) is displayed at the very top, completely blocking ad interference.
Application requirements
- Must hold a registered trademark
- Apply through the Baidu Marketing platform
- Relatively high cost (annual fee typically starts at ¥50,000; market experience reference only, subject to Baidu's official quote), suitable for brands with budget
- Small and medium brands can consider at least enabling bidding protection for brand keywords (much lower cost)
IV. Countering SEM bidding interception
When competitors bid on your brand keywords for ads:
Legitimate countermeasures
- Baidu complaint: if a competitor's ad uses your brand name or trademark, you can file a complaint through Baidu's intellectual property protection platform
- Bid on brand keywords yourself: clicks on brand keywords are usually very cheap (because quality score is extremely high), spend a little to protect traffic
- Demand letter: if a competitor explicitly uses your registered trademark in ad creative, it constitutes trademark infringement
Note
Baidu allows competitors to bid on your brand keywords as keywords (as long as your trademark does not appear in the ad creative). This is common industry practice and hard to fully prevent; the best defense is to also run ads on your brand keywords.
V. Protection at the Trademark Level
- Ensure the brand name is registered as a trademark (Class 35 advertising and sales is especially important)
- File trademark information with the Baidu search engine complaint platform
- Regularly monitor for new infringement activity
- For malicious trademark squatting and counterfeit websites, reserve the right to pursue legal action
VI. Routine Monitoring Mechanisms
Set up brand term SERP monitoring:
- Once a week: manually search the brand term and screenshot the first two pages of results
- Automated monitoring: use 5118 or the keyword monitoring feature of the Baidu Webmaster Platform
- Public opinion tools: Baidu public opinion, Newrank, etc., to detect issues immediatelyNegativeContent
- Competitor activity: monitor whether competitors are running ads on your brand terms
Practical recommendations
- Search your brand name today: see how many of the 10 results on the first page you can control. If fewer than 7, you need to act immediately
- Bidding on brand terms is "insurance," not "waste”: many companies think "why pay to bid on brand terms when we already rank first organically"—but if you don't bid, competitors will occupy that ad slot
- Encyclopedia entries are long-term assets: invest time in making your brand entries on Baidu Baike and Sogou Baike complete and professional—this is the most trusted display format in search results
