Co-op banks sign up for online brand protection

Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) is acting to protect its brands online by signing up to an online brand protection service. The moves follow growing concern over Google’s change to its trademarked terms policy.

The SearchSentry platform monitors keyword bidding on search engines and then provides reports on which competitors are bidding against CFS brands and products online. SearchSentry will be applied across all parts of the CFS business. This comprises a number of web assets including The Co-operative Insurance, The Co-operative Bank and Smile, the internet bank.

Two unidentified banks have also signed up to SearchSentry. The platform was developed by search marketing agency Greenlight and is aimed at paid search marketing campaigns. Greenlight developed the service last month in response to Google’s policy change.

The service will enable CFS to allocate budget to bidding on the particular terms it has prioritised. The aim is to gain the optimal level of paid search performance, in order to defend its brand online.

The CFS is part of the Co-operative Group and has 6.5m customers. The bank arm offers a range of financial products covering bank accounts, mortgages, credit cards and loans. While the insurance division provides pensions, unit trusts and insurance as well as financial advice.