Affiliate program terms are the foundation of any brand's collaboration with publishers. However, in practice, these terms are often violated. In this post, we'll explore the case of Adidas and highlight common affiliate program fraud, such as brand bidding and coupon codes fraud, showing how they can be detected using Bluepear.
Brand Bidding Violations
Affiliates of Adidas must adhere to the program's terms, which clearly state that the use of the brand name in ad copy, any misspellings, or variations of ad fraud in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is strictly forbidden. This guideline is designed to secure the brand's investment in search engine advertising and prevent affiliate program fraud, ensuring that only authorized Adidas campaigns appear for branded keywords.
What Bluepear Found:
Our system identified multiple instances of affiliate program fraud where affiliates were actively violating program terms.
They were bidding on Adidas-branded keywords and using variations of the brand name in their ad copy. This kind of ad fraud not only inflated the cost of Adidas' branded keyword campaigns but also led to a misleading consumer experience.
Customers who clicked on these ads were often redirected to third-party sites, thinking they were interacting with Adidas directly. This kind of affiliate program fraud can cannibalize the brand's internal PPC efforts and lead to wasted marketing budgets.
Coupon Code Fraud
Another strict guideline in Adidas' affiliate program prohibits the use of unauthorized coupon codes or any coupon code abuse. Only specific codes approved and distributed by Adidas can be used by affiliates to promote sales. This helps to ensure a consistent and authentic customer experience, and prevent coupon code fraud.
What Bluepear Found:
Despite these clear rules, our digital monitoring solution uncovered numerous cases of coupon codes fraud.
These affiliates promised customers discounts that either didn’t exist or weren’t authorized by Adidas, which not only led to confusion but also devalued the brand’s pricing strategy.
This kind of coupon code abuse can also result in Adidas paying commissions for sales that shouldn’t qualify, ultimately wasting money on unapproved affiliate activities.
Why Bluepear Is Essential for Proactive Brand Protection
Bluepear helps brands find affiliate program fraud and combat violations in search engine results, especially when it comes to branded queries—what we call the "brand's space". When users search for your brand, they should easily find the official site and feel confident about completing a purchase there. It’s crucial to monitor this branded search space to push dishonest affiliates and competitors off these positions, protecting your traffic and ensuring customers aren’t misled. Without active monitoring, brands risk losing both sales and customer trust to third parties who misuse brand assets and keywords.
Bluepear detects affiliate program fraud such as:
- • Brand bidding – When affiliates bid on branded keywords in paid search ads, driving up costs for the brand.
- • Cloaked websites – Affiliates who hide their true identity or redirect traffic through layers of misleading sites.
- • URL-hijacking – When third parties hijack branded traffic by impersonating the brand's URL.
- • Trademark abuse – Unauthorized use of trademarks in affiliate campaigns.
- • Ad-hijacking – Using misleading ads that take traffic away from the official brand site.
- • Coupon Code Fraud – Unauthorized use of coupon codes or any coupon code abuse.
Conclusion
The Adidas case underscores a more general issue in affiliate marketing: the failure of brands to actively monitor their affiliate programs can result in violations that can negatively impact their financial performance and reputation. Bluepear offers the tools required to proactively identify affiliate program fraud, thereby guaranteeing that brands retain control over their affiliate activities and secure their financial interests.
In the fiercely competitive landscape of the online economy, securing your brand is essential, not optional. Using thorough online brand protection strategies allows you to secure your reputation, prevent unauthorized use, and ensure that your brand stays prominent and credible in the eyes of potential customers.
With Bluepear, you can:
- • Monitor your brand’s presence across all channels
- • Identify and address unauthorized use of your brand in ad copy
- • Protect your trademarks and intellectual property
- • Optimize your search engine visibility to attract more customers
