Solution

Someone else is buying
your name.

Your brand terms are the cheapest, highest-intent traffic you have. That is exactly why competitors buy them — and why you usually find out from a customer rather than a report.

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You notice it like this

  • A colleague forwards a screenshot of a rival's ad above yours on your own name.
  • Brand CPCs are creeping up without any change to your bids.
  • Brand click-through is falling while your ranking has not moved at all.

Why it happens

Google permits bidding on someone else's trademark. What it restricts is using that trademark inside ad text, or dressing a display URL up to look like yours. Those are three different situations with three different responses, and most reporting lumps them into one list called “competitors”.

What you see

AdvertiserOn keywordClassifiedDays seen
competitor-a.comyourbrandConquesting28
reseller-shop.netyourbrand pricingInfringement11
yourbrand-offers.coyourbrand loginHijacking3

New advertiser on a brand login query

Known within a day, classified, evidence already attached.

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