|
▶ Video account attention cross-border navigation Recently, a cold wave suddenly hit, and the temperature across the country dropped drastically, which made people feel what it means to be "frost so severe that clothes and belts break, and fingers cannot be tied."
▲ The picture comes from the seller communication group However, in this kind of weather, cross-border sellers not only feel cold physically, but also feel chilled in their hearts, because of the weather, the recent outbreak of the epidemic in Bantian, Shenzhen, and the endless vicious competition incidents on Amazon. It is learned that recently, another Amazon seller reported that he had been maliciously "attacked" by a competitor. The main ad promotion was maliciously clicked? Opening up a new track is a good choice! As we all know, Amazon’s control over fake reviews has become increasingly strict in recent years. Therefore, if sellers want to gain traffic and increase product exposure, in addition to working hard on product selection and product listing, advertising is definitely an important channel that sellers must rely on. It is learned that due to the sharp increase in the number of sellers and the tight advertising space, the price of Amazon advertising has continued to soar, with the average cost per click increasing from 14 cents in 2014 to $1.6 now. Many sellers have reported that the competition was fierce this year and they spent a lot of money on advertising, which resulted in a significant drop in profits. ▲ The picture comes from the seller communication group Not only that, some illegal sellers will use advertising as a channel to maliciously "attack" competitors' products. We learned that some sellers reported on the forum that their advertising campaigns had been maliciously clicked on. ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan The seller said that his main product has maintained growth after the peak season, with an average of 150-170 orders per day, and more than ten keywords have been awarded Amazon Choice. The competitor was removed from the shelves for two to three weeks due to complaints, and although the ranking rose quickly after it was put back on the shelves, the seller was not significantly affected. However, in mid-January, the seller discovered that there was anomalies in his advertising data. The high-frequency keywords that originally had a conversion rate of about 30% had not been converted 20 times for many consecutive days, and the click-through rate was as high as 5-7%. The seller speculated that competitors had previously relied on malicious complaints and bad reviews on others to gain a rank, so this time it was most likely the result of a competitor using a self-supported account with a foreign IP. ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan In response to this, sellers have tried various methods: allocating the budget for the main word to variants, resulting in the Acos of the variants reaching 50-60%; lowering the bid for the main word and not placing it in the first place on the homepage, resulting in no exposure; focusing on brand advertising for the main word and adjusting the bid to US$3, but still no exposure. In the end, the seller did not find the most appropriate solution. ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan Many sellers below have reported that they have encountered similar situations recently. For several consecutive days, there have been no orders received after clicks, and their rankings have naturally dropped. ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan However, some sellers have expressed their opinions on this, believing that if the number of clicks/click-through rate suddenly soars, it is likely to be malicious clicks, but if only the conversion rate decreases, it cannot be concluded that it is malicious clicks, and the analysis depends on specific variables. ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan Although there is no reliable and clear solution to the problem of malicious clicks by competitors, some sellers have put forward their own suggestions for this situation: the track of in-site advertising is now very crowded, and it is recommended that sellers add a new track - off-site advertising. The cross-border e-commerce industry is like this, either continue to compete in the old track or choose to open up a new track. ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan Therefore, in the face of Amazon’s growing advertising costs and the inability to deal with this situation, sellers are advised to consider promoting this channel outside the site. Although sellers still need to spend time learning about this, as the saying goes, "Learning is like rowing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat." Only by continuous learning and innovation can sellers avoid getting lost in this ever-changing and evolving cross-border e-commerce market. However, this is not the only incident of vicious competition on Amazon. Using an independent website to file a complaint about copyright infringement? Fight back with DMCA! It was learned that not long ago, a seller said that his products were listed by his competitors on an independent website, and the listings and pictures were copied to make fun of him and he filed a complaint for infringement. ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan A seller responded below that the link was used twice last year and was removed by Amazon in December, the month with the best sales. ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan Some sellers also mentioned that this method of maliciously using independent sites to complain about infringement was used crazily in 2021, and I don’t know what will happen in 2022. If Amazon does not plug this loophole, there will always be no way to prevent this from happening. ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan Some sellers even expressed that they felt that Amazon should set up a department specifically to handle complaints, certificates, policies and regulations. ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan However, unlike the previous incident, sellers now have strategies to deal with the situation where competitors use independent sites to maliciously file infringement complaints. Based on the suggestions put forward by sellers, the following measures are compiled for sellers' reference: 1. Click the "Wrongful Appeal" button to submit a DMCA document to Amazon The so-called DMCA, whose full name is “Digital Millennium Copyright Act”, refers to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), also known as the “Digital Millennium Copyright Act”, which provides a legal basis for the protection of copyright of online works. The DMCA document is a document with legal effect. Its core meaning is that after filling out this document, if the seller infringes on your rights, the seller is willing to bear all consequences and asks Amazon to restore the link as soon as possible. If sellers want to speed up Amazon's review, they can submit more detailed evidence to the review team in the DMCA file, including product listing time, picture shooting time, trademark certificate, etc. 2. Apply for a brand domain name and register a brand independent website for prevention If the seller has already applied for a brand domain name to register a brand independent website, and a competitor uses the independent website to make a complaint, the seller can use the independent website to counter-complain and give the competitor a surprise attack. In addition, if sellers need to use DMCA to counter malicious infringement complaints from opponents, they can reply to the keyword [Independent Site Infringement Complaint Template] in the chat dialog box of the cross-border e-commerce official account to obtain the Chinese and English templates of DMCA.
Survival of the fittest is inevitable, if you are not superior, you will be inferior, and if you do not prosper, you will perish.
Competition is absolutely inevitable in the cross-border e-commerce market. But it is worth noting that real competition is never about plotting against the other party, but about using wisdom and ability to outperform the other party while abiding by the rules. Sellers who rely on temporary illegal means to gain a slight advantage will never become real winners. |
