Every search marketing campaign contains a large amount of intellectual property used to establish the campaign, make it successful and to continually improve upon results.

Intellectual property in search can consist of tangible items like keyword lists used to connect consumers to a page in paid and natural search as well as non-tangible items like an individual’s knowledge and experience.

• What intellectual property is involved in search marketing?
• Why is it important to be aware of the intellectual property involved in search?
• How can a search campaign’s intellectual property be protected?
• How do agencies affect intellectual copy in search marketing?
• What considerations should be made when selecting a new agency?

What intellectual property is involved in search marketing?

As discussed above, intellectual property in search is the core component of a search campaign consisting of:

• Keyword lists
• Advert copy / creative lists
• Multimedia specific records (e.g. promotion of video, image and location on maps in search)
• History of campaign (user analytics / click-through and cost trends)
• Campaign structure
• Employee knowledge (unique techniques, trend analysis, campaign evaluation etc.)

Ownership of intellectual property is incredibly important to you as a business and is discussed below.

Why is it important to be aware of the intellectual property involved in search?

Be it tangible or non-tangible, the intellectual property of a search campaign is highly valuable. The longer a campaign runs and the more refined it becomes, the more valuable the intellectual property is to your business.

The investment in time and cost for a search campaign can be so high that the loss of key aspects of the intellectual property will have significant implications, mostly irrecoverable.

For instance, a large amount of information can be learnt from two years of consumer click-through data and the trends drawn from it. If this is lost and the campaign manager changes, there is no way of knowing what has been successful or unsuccessful in the past. This will set you back resulting in increased costs and reduced campaign effectiveness.

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How can a search campaign’s intellectual property be protected?

Back-up data! It sounds simple but you’d be amazed by how few companies actually save copies of keyword lists, advert copy, log files for analytics and trends. Like insurance, you’re unlikely to need to use it, but if you do you’ll be grateful you didn’t skip this simple step.

Staff changes happen, make sure an understandable record is made and kept up-to-date. Ensure the campaign structure and history is recorded and attempt to make as much of the individual’s knowledge and experience transferable.

How do agencies affect intellectual copy in search marketing?

Agencies that specialise in search marketing work on many search campaigns providing them with a large amount of experience and data that a single brand won’t have access to. This intellectual property is obviously of value and forms a large part of the reason why agencies are used to enhance or manage search campaigns.

When working with an agency it is important that you understand who owns the core parts of your search campaign’s intellectual property [link to first para] listed above. An agency’s service usually involves maintaining keyword and creative lists on your behalf, as well as monitoring user analytics. Your campaign will also be integrated with the agency’s own systems and techniques, aspects that they may not be willing to share because they form part of their business offering.

Ensure both parties are clear on who owns what and then make plans based on this in the event that you have to change agency.

What considerations should be made when selecting a new agency?

When negotiating a contract, ask the agency what their policy is for the ownership of intellectual property. Pay particular consideration to a future change in agency bearing in mind that, as discussed above [link], the history of the campaign is the most valuable aspect to you, the advertiser. You may wish to ask for certain amounts of intellectual property such as the campaign history to be released to you at the end of your contract to pass onto a new agency.

There is no standard policy in this area and it is understandable that agencies may not want to share all of their information with you because they invest great amounts of money into their own processes and knowledge. It is therefore your responsibility to ensure transparency between you and your agency.

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