8 Questions You Need To Ask While Considering A Brand Protection Solution

According to a recent study by Menlo Security, 51% of browser-based phishing attempts involved some form of brand impersonation. Moreover, cybercriminals created nearly 1 million new phishing sites each month, a 700% increase since 2020. 

This means, fake websites, counterfeit listings, social media impersonations, and trademark infringements are multiplying faster than ever – stealing traffic, revenue, digital identity, and most importantly, trust. 

But what’s more alarming is how these threats are evolving with the emergence of AI.  

Fraudsters now use AI-generated content, automation, and deepfakes to create near-perfect replicas of brand assets – from product images to verified social media profiles in just minutes. What once took days of manual setup can now be executed at a scale with minimal human effort. 

Unfortunately, many brands are still fighting these modern threats with outdated methods. Some rely on manual monitoring and basic takedowns that can’t match the speed of AI-powered fraud. Others invest in single-channel protection, monitoring only marketplaces or social media, leaving other digital fronts completely exposed. 

Now brand infringement threats are not linear but takes place across multiple touchpoints; therefore, brands need to have complete visibility across all those touchpoints.  

This brings us to a critical question every brand must ask: 

How do you choose the right brand protection solution, one that’s built for today’s evolving digital threats and not yesterday’s challenges? 

In this blog, we’ll walk through the 7 key questions every business should ask before selecting a brand protection tool, and what you should expect in return if you want true, end-to-end protection for your brand. 

8 Questions to Ask While Choosing a Brand Protection Solution 

Choosing a brand protection solution isn’t just about buying another security tool; it’s about choosing the right partner to safeguard your brand’s identity, trust, and customer relationships. 

1. Does it offer omnichannel visibility and scalable protection?

Your brand is visible across multiple platforms – from marketplaces and social media to search engines, mobile apps, paid ads, and third-party websites. Every digital touchpoint is part of your brand’s identity and customer experience, and each of these are an entry point for fraudsters.  

A fake listing on a marketplace, a cloned website running paid ads, or an impersonated social media page can all damage customer trust in minutes.  

That’s why a truly effective brand protection solution must provide omnichannel visibility, not just monitoring one or two platforms, but continuously scanning the entire digital ecosystem where your brand interacts with customers. It should detect misuse across ecommerce platforms, social networks, search ads, domains, video content, and app stores, giving you a single, unified view of every potential risk. 

2. Does it use AI, ML, and OSINT to detect sophisticated threats?

Modern brand infringement threats are not just limited to creating fake websites or misuse of brand logos. It has evolved and become more sophisticated with the emergence of AI. Now create deepfakes of reputed celebrities, or ads, using just a few prompts. In case of investment firms, it expands to promotions of fake investment schemes, stock recommendations, etc. The solution must be able to identify all types of brand infringements across platforms.  

It should combine AI, ML, and Open source intelligence to enable wide-net scanning across the open web, marketplaces, social platforms, and even hidden channels, detecting brand infringements that might otherwise go undetected.  

3. Can it detect lookalike brand impersonations and not just exact copies?

Fraudsters have now moved beyond just replicating exact copies of brand websites or other assets. They now create lookalike versions by slightly altering a domain name, tweaking a logo color, or mimicking your writing style, to deceive customers while staying under the radar. 

An advanced brand protection solution should be equipped with visual similarity detection, linguistic analysis, and pattern-recognition algorithms that go beyond exact-match searches. These technologies help identify deceptive variations such as “amaz0n.com” instead of “amazon.com” or fake profiles that reuse brand imagery with subtle alterations.

4. How accurate and actionable are the insights? 

Digital threats evolve fast, and threat detection and identification are only useful when they lead to clear, actionable outcomes. When assessing a brand protection solution, you need to look at the accuracy of its detection engine, how effectively it separates genuine threats from noise.  

The right solution should offer risk scoring, prioritization and real-time proofs, helping your compliance team act faster on high-impact threats. The focus should be on precision, not volume, ensuring your enforcement team spends time removing real threats, not reviewing false positives. 

5. Can it take swift and successful takedown actions?

Detection is only helpful when the action against the infringement is taken fast. An effective brand protection tool should not only identify infringements but also remove them effectively. 

When evaluating a tool, ask how fast the system moves from detection to enforcement.  

• Do they have pre-established partnerships with marketplaces, social media platforms, and domain registrars to speed up takedowns?  
• Are their processes automated, or will your team need to raise manual requests each time?  
• How much time does it take to enforce a takedown? 

The right solution should offer faster resolution once an infringement is detected. It should also be equipped with automated escalation workflows backed by legal and compliance expertise. End-to-end visibility, so you can track every enforcement action from detection to resolution, ensuring 24/7 protection and preserving your brand reputation before any violation causes lasting damage. 

6. Can the solution adapt to your industry’s unique challenges?

Every industry and every brand has its own unique challenges and might face distinct infringement patterns. Luxury brands deal with more counterfeit cases, while financial brands face more phishing scams or investment fraud. On the other hand, FMCG brands might face issues like similar packaging products being sold by resellers, etc.  

Therefore, the ideal brand protection solution must be able to cater to your specific requirements. Ask the provider whether the tool tailors its detection models, risk thresholds, and reporting to your industry-specific needs. Also, ask for real client case studies or testimonials to ensure credibility.  

7. What level of visibility and reporting does the brand protection solution provide?

Brand protection is an ongoing effort, not a one-time project. That’s why your solution must provide real-time dashboards, trend analytics, and historical data to measure impact over time. Ask for transparency in where brand infringements were detected, what actions were taken, and how performance improved. 

A good tool must be able to turn complex data into clear insights for business decisions, helping marketing, legal, and compliance teams stay aligned.

8. Does the vendor provide expert support and strategic consultation?

Technology alone cannot solve brand infringement and impersonation issues; expertise makes the difference. Machines also require human intelligence for validation. When shortlisting vendors, evaluate their customer success and expert support capabilities. Does the provider offer dedicated analysts to monitor your brand, guide enforcement actions, and adapt strategies as threats evolve? 

A reliable partner should act as an extension of your team, not just a software provider, but a long-term ally in protecting your brand credibility. 

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