Advertenties van concurrenten in Google: wat kun je doen?

Introduction

Zie je advertenties van concurrenten boven jouw website als je googelt op jouw bedrijfsnaam? Dan voelt dat vaak oneerlijk. Je investeert in je merk, staat organisch op plek 1 maar een concurrent trekt de aandacht en verkeer met een advertentie.

Dit roept bij veel ondernemers dezelfde vragen op: Mag dit eigenlijk? Moet ik hier iets tegen doen? En kost het me klanten als ik niets doe?

In dit artikel leggen we uit waarom concurrenten op jouw merknaam kunnen adverteren, wat de spelregels van Google Ads zijn en welke strategieën in de praktijk werken. Daarbij zoomen we specifiek in op branded search: adverteren op je eigen merknaam, en wanneer dat juist een slimme zet is om grip te houden op je zichtbaarheid en conversies.

Branded search: a waste of money?

Bidding on your own brand name is often referred to by SME entrepreneurs as a waste of money. On our own brand name we are already at the top organically (unpaid) so why should we pay to be there? But what if a competitor also bids on your brand name? What do you do then?

On the other hand, there are business owners who see advertising on the competitor's brand name as a clever trick to poach customers. But does it really work that way? And what are the consequences?

Types of search results and search terms

Search Results

Those who type in a search term on Google, Bing or Yahoo get 2 types of search results: ads and organic results.

Search Terms

There are 2 types of search terms: branded and non-branded - or generic - search terms. Branded keywords contain a brand name such as 'miele oven', 'apple' or 'tasmanic'. Whoever searches for these, already knows the company and is specifically looking for products or services from this company.

Generic keywords do not include a company name, such as "cell phone comparison," "steam oven" or "marketing agency.

This article is about branded search: the combination of branded search terms in Google (or Microsoft) ads. It can be either your own or a competitor's brand name.

Branded search: bieden op je eigen merknaam?

Om extra grip te krijgen op wat iemand te zien krijgt in zoekresultaten als hij/zij zoekt op je merknaam kun je in Google Ads of Microsoft Ads bieden op je eigen merknaam. Maar waarom zou je dit doen? Je staat organisch toch al bovenaan?

Waarom organisch bovenaan staan niet hetzelfde is als bovenaan zichtbaar zijn

Google and other search engines want to show the most relevant search results possible. So in a branded search on, say, "Stella bike," Google will organically place the Stella brand at the top (unless Stella is really doing something wrong). But Google allows advertisers to use someone else's brand name as a search term in Google Ads. These Google Ads ads appear above the organic results. If Stella does not advertise on its own brand name, someone searching on "Stella" will potentially see a competitor first and then Stella's organic result. It can be even worse if there are multiple competitors advertising on 'stella' as a keyword and thus multiple ads will appear above the first result of Stella itself. It is therefore crucial for Stella to advertise itself on the keyword 'stella' and related search terms in order to really be at the top.

Offer benefits on own brand name

• By advertising on your own brand name, you protect your No. 1 position in Google/Bing. You push others "down" in search results.
• You drive up costs for a competitor who also wants to advertise on your brand name.
• Google Ads and Dutch Microsoft Ads Agency can be tailored to a specific message or action that catches the attention of potential customers.

Possible objections to bidding on own brand name

• Higher advertising costs.
• Ads reach searchers who would have come to your website anyway.

Branded search: bieden op merknaam concurrent?

To come to the attention of potential new customers, in addition to advertising on generic search terms, you can also advertise on competitors' brand names. After all, someone looking for a competitor might also want to consider you as a supplier.

Branded search volume & cost per click as a factor

A well-known brand often has a lot of branded search. For example, 'apple' alone is searched 199,000 times per month in the Netherlands, 'iphone' 104,000 times. For example, 'cell phone' is only searched 17,000 times per month. So, as a new cell phone provider, you could reach a larger group by advertising on "iphone" than on "cell phone. In addition, you have the price you pay for clicks, the CPCs. For 'cell phone' you pay on average $2.00 per click, for 'apple' $0.15 and for 'iphone' $1.00. I n this case, therefore, it is a lot cheaper to advertise on the competitor's brand and/or product name.

Possible objections to bidding on competitor's brand name

• You may have ethical concerns about this.
• The quality score of your campaigns drops, your ads with this keyword are less relevant than those of the brand itself.
• You have to pay more to score on someone else's brand name.
• You also already have to advertise on your own brand and/or product name and that too costs extra money.

Bidding on brand names in Google Ads: what is allowed?

This is not allowed: brand name competitor in ad text

Google is clear about what is and is not allowed when advertising on a competitor's brand name. What is not allowed: mentioning the competitor's brand name in the ad text. There should be no confusion about who the advertiser is. Google (often) disapproves such an ad and may even suspend the advertiser. If a competitor advertises with your brand name in their ad, you can file a complaint with Google Ads.

This is allowed: brand name competitor as keyword

What is allowed: using a competitor's brand name as a keyword in a Google Ads campaign. The result: your ad appears when people search for the competitor's brand name. Google does not have to inform the competitor about this and you can, in principle, advertise with this search term unhindered.

By the way, it is possible that a DSA or Shopping campaign in Google Ads, for example, will automatically bid on a competitor's brand name. So it does not always happen in a planned way.

Prisoner’s dilemma: waarom iedereen toch op elkaars merknaam blijft bieden

Het prisoner’s dilemma is een gedachte-experiment uit de wiskundige speltheorie waarin wordt aangetoond dat de beste uitkomst voor beide samen niet altijd haalbaar is als er niet gecommuniceerd kan worden. Verderop lees je hoe dit van toepassing is op branded search.

The classic prisoner's dilemma goes like this:

Suppose a serious crime is committed. Two armed men are arrested. It seems they are the perpetrators, but there is no evidence. They are each in separate cells and cannot speak to each other. The prosecution makes the same offer to both suspects:

1. If both suspects remain silent, there is no case. They will be fined only for unlicensed possession of firearms.
2. If one confesses, the case is closed. The one who confesses first goes free because he cooperates. Those who don't confess get at least 10 years.
3. If they both confess, they get five years each.

What is best for a suspect to do (optimal strategy)? Remain silent and show solidarity (cooperative strategy) or confess and choose for himself (non-cooperative strategy).

The dilemma is: both suspects are better off remaining silent, but each is also thinking of his own benefit. They cannot confer. Whatever the other does, it is better for each suspect to confess. Because if the other is silent, confessing offers the greatest benefit (acquittal instead of a fine). If the other confesses, confessing oneself also provides the greatest benefit (5 years' jail time instead of 10 years).
Even if the defendants agree in advance to remain silent, it is advantageous to betray the other and confess. Below is the thinking of both:

But why is this relevant to branded search?

If you change silent in the table above by "does not advertise," and brooks by "does advertise," then you have the situation for branded search of two competitors. The situation where both parties do not advertise is optimal because neither incurs additional costs. But if one of the companies is going to advertise (confess) it is detrimental to the other. It often ends up then that both do advertise. Google and Microsoft are happy because more is advertised and the click price goes up.

Ongelijke verhoudingen tussen merken bij concurrent-advertenties

The classic prisoners' dilemma is an extreme simplification of reality. In the world of business, there are always more than 2 players involved and they also have unequal interests. Models such as the multiplayer and repeated prisoners dilemma have been developed in game theory for this as well. We will leave those for now, so as not to complicate things unnecessarily. What is important to note is that the interests of the parties are not equal. This leads to a situation where one of the players will choose the non-cooperative strategy (confess).

Branded search volume & cost per click as a factor

Not every brand is equally well known and therefore not every brand name is searched for equally. In addition, the cost per click (CPC) for clicks on branded searches is often a lot lower than on generic search terms. Therefore, an unknown brand has more interest in advertising on the brand name of a larger competitor.

For a large and small company, the schedule looks like this:

Wat werkt als concurrenten boven jouw merk adverteren

Wanneer concurrenten boven jouw merknaam verschijnen, is niets doen óók een keuze, vaak met gevolgen. De juiste aanpak hangt niet af van gevoel, maar van verhoudingen: zoekvolume, merkbekendheid, marges en budget. Deze richtlijnen helpen om rationele keuzes te maken.

• Analyseer het branded zoekvolume van jezelf én je belangrijkste concurrenten. Niet het absolute volume is doorslaggevend, maar je relatieve positie binnen de categorie.
• Ben jij het merk met het grootste branded zoekvolume? Dan is adverteren op je eigen merknaam vrijwel altijd effectief om verkeer en conversies af te schermen.
• Wil je bewust niet adverteren op je eigen merknaam? Zorg dan minimaal voor actieve monitoring, zodat je direct ziet wanneer een concurrent boven jouw merk begint te adverteren.
• Heb je een relatief klein branded zoekvolume en wil je groeien? Dan kan adverteren op de merknaam van grotere concurrenten bijdragen aan merkbekendheid onder actieve categoriekopers.
• Splits branded campagnes altijd van generieke zoekwoorden. Alleen dan kun je echt beoordelen wat branded search bijdraagt en voorkom je dat resultaten worden vertekend.
• Gebruik branded advertenties niet alleen defensief, maar ook om je propositie te versterken: USP’s, reviews of garanties maken het verschil wanneer een concurrent naast je staat.
• Beperk biedingen op concurrent-merken tot duidelijke tests met een vast budget en evaluatiemoment. Zonder duidelijke grenzen lopen kosten snel op zonder rendement.
• Controleer regelmatig of concurrenten jouw merknaam in hun advertentieteksten gebruiken en onderneem direct actie als dit gebeurt.

Twijfel je of jouw Google Ads-strategie voldoende beschermt tegen concurrenten? Lees hoe wij als bureau Google Ads inzetten voor maximale controle, rendement en groei.