How Rhino Affiliates Detected Affiliate Fraud & Brand Bidding
~ 4 minutes to read
Discover how Rhino Affiliates, a renowned international affiliate marketing platform promoting their flagship brand Casino Days, effectively tackled the challenge of paying for organic traffic. This affiliate case study highlights their journey to achieving enhanced brand visibility and significant cost savings with the help of Bluepear’s advanced technology to detect brand bidding activities.
Observation 1: Unintentional Payments for Branded Organic Traffic
Similar to other casino products with extensive advertising, the brand did not accept branded traffic, but still paid for it unknowingly. The problem only became evident when the brand team searched for their brand and found that all top positions for the search term [Casino Days] were occupied by advertising rankings, featuring the brand itself. Furthermore, an ad that looked like a brand campaign by the in-house team led to an affiliated link.
Observation 2: Suspicious Domain and Deceptive Offers
During their research, Rhino Affiliates discovered a suspicious domain, casinodays.app, that was misleading users by offering a non-existent iOS application. Instead of providing a legitimate download, the site led users to the affiliate link. This deceptive practice not only tarnished the brand's reputation but also resulted in wasted ad spend for Rhino Affiliates.
Active Monitoring Initiated
To address these findings, Rhino Affiliates decided to assign a manager to monitor the brand's search results. However, they soon encountered difficulties during the monitoring process:
Dynamic Ads: PPC ads kept changing, making it impossible to identify every violator.
Cloaked Advertising Links: Some advertising links were cloaked, making it impossible to find the violator, gather evidence, and issue a complaint.
Seeking an Automated Solution
Realizing the limitations of manual monitoring, Rhino Affiliates began seeking out existing market solutions. Their search led them to our team, an affiliate marketing network software provider. As they learnt about our automated tools’ value, the affiliate marketing network conducted a two-week free trial with Bluepear. During this trial, they managed to uncover over a dozen publishers promoting the brand in violation of the affiliate network restrictions. This newfound solution offered efficient tracking and identification of violators.
Resulting Actions and Outcomes:
With the evidence they gathered through the Bluepear software, Rhino Affiliates took proactive measures to address the issues at hand:
Disputing Payments: By presenting evidence, they successfully contested and saved €11,000 in payments for prohibited traffic.
Ongoing Monitoring: Recognizing the persistence of violators, Rhino Affiliates continues to closely monitor publishers, revealing new tactics to uncover further violations.
Measurable Success
The efforts invested by Rhino Affiliates, using the automated features of the affiliate network software, yielded impressive results, including:
Reestablished Brand Presence: The brand's main search terms now consistently occupy top positions, an indication of restored brand visibility.
Cost Savings: Throughout the active monitoring period in 2023, Rhino Affiliates identified and caught 105 violators, resulting in notable cost savings of €131,000.
Conclusion
This affiliate marketing case study highlights Rhino Affiliates commitment to protecting their brand integrity and maximizing cost efficiency by leveraging an affiliate network and affiliate network software. By embracing automated solutions, maintaining monitoring, and taking proactive measures, Rhino Affiliates effectively detected and combated affiliate fraud and unauthorized brand promotion. As a result, they achieved substantial savings and restored their brand's prominence in the market.
To sum up, brand monitoring is a vital component of brand protection strategy. Regular monitoring allows companies to detect brand bidding, avoid unnecessary expenses, and gain insights into competitors' strategies. Brand queries are also crucial for maximizing brand presence and ensuring customer engagement. Through Bluepear, brands can detect and combat affiliate fraud, protect their brand, and optimize affiliate marketing efforts. Don't hesitate to book a free trial with Bluepear today and achieve similar success.
