What To Do If A Competitor Is Buying Your Name

Business / By /
A closeup of someone typing on a black laptop, wearing a long-sleeve black button down, with a black notebook in the foreground, representing a competitor buying your name on Google.

Name buying in Google Ads frustrates many business owners. You search your brand and suddenly a competitor appears above you. It feels wrong. It feels unfair. You ask, “How can they buy my name on the internet?”

Here is the truth. Name buying is legal. It is common. But it is not the smartest strategy for most businesses. In this article, we’ll show you what to do instead and how best to allocate your Google Ads budget.

What Is Name Buying?

Name buying is when a competitor bids on your brand name as a keyword in Google Ads. They do not own your name. They are just paying to show up when someone searches it.

Google allows this practice. In fact, Google encourages open competition in the ad auction. The key legal and ethical line is this:

They cannot use your trademarked name in their ad text if it misleads customers. That is where policy and trademark law come into play.

So, competitors can buy your name as a keyword. They just cannot pretend to be you.

Competitor Conquesting: Should I Buy My Competitor’s Name In Retaliation?

Most brands react to name buying in the same way.

“If they are buying my name, I am going to buy theirs.”

That instinct is understandable. It feels like fairness. However, it is almost never the smartest first move.

Buying competitor names is called competitor conquesting. It can have a place in an advanced strategy. But it shouldn’t be the foundation of your advertising strategy.

How To React To A Competitor Buying Your Name

Think about your Google Ads budget in three layers.

Layer 1: Your own brand name

Buying your own name is usually the cheapest and most efficient way to capture clicks.

People searching your brand already know you. You worked hard to get that interest through referrals, offline marketing, social media, or Meta ads. You must protect those clicks.

You should run branded search campaigns. However, you do not need a huge budget here. Set enough to ensure that when someone searches your name, they find you at the top.

Layer 2: Undecided customers

Capturing undecided customers is where the majority of your budget should go.

These searchers have not chosen a brand yet. They are searching for your product or service category, not your name or a competitor’s name.

These clicks cost more than your brand name, but they’re more important. You are capturing demand from people still making up their minds. That is where you win new customers.

Layer 3: Competitor name buying

Competitor name buying is the most expensive way to advertise on Google. It usually converts at a lower rate. Why? Because those searchers already had a competitor in mind when they typed the query. You are trying to “steal” a partially decided customer.

In most industries, this is not where you want most of your money.

The Exception: When You Should Buy Your Competitor’s Name

There are exceptions to the rule of not buying your competitor’s name.

Name buying can be strategic if:

  • You are new to the market.
  • Nobody knows your brand yet.
  • You aggressively undercut competitors on price.

In that case, bidding on competitor names can get your brand in front of people who would never have seen you. It can work. But it is the exception, not the rule.

A Full Breakdown of a Solid Google Ads Budget

Here is the practical hierarchy of a Google ads budget:

  • A small percentage of your budget should protect your own brand name. This makes sure the leads you generate elsewhere can find you.
  • The largest share of your budget should go after undecided customers searching for what you sell.
  • Only after those two are well funded should you test competitor name buying.

Going “toe to toe” in a name buying war with competitors is usually a waste of money. It is part of doing business online. You cannot fully stop others from bidding on your name. You can only out-strategize them.

Want To Build A Winning Google Ads Strategy? Hire A Digital Agency

If you need help optimizing your Google Ads, structuring your budget, or deciding whether name buying makes sense in your market, reach out to the team at Mediaura. We are happy to help you get the most from every advertising dollar.

Related Posts

Scroll to Top