MarkMonitor

MarkMonitor Inc. is an American software company founded in 1999. It develops software intended to protect corporate brands from Internet counterfeiting, fraud, piracy, and cybersquatting. MarkMonitor also develops and publishes reports on the prevalence of brand abuse on the Internet.

MarkMonitor
TypeSubsidiary
Founded1995 (1995)
Founder
  • Faisal Shah
  • Ed Priddy[1]
  • James Hepworth
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, USA
Area served
Worldwide
Products
  • Domain management
  • Brand protection
  • Anti-piracy
  • Anti-fraud
Number of employees
520 (2017)
Parent
Websitewww.markmonitor.com

In November 2022, the company was acquired by Newfold Digital.[2]

History

MarkMonitor was founded in 1999[3] in Boise, Idaho[4] and its initial business as a service provider for the protection of corporate trademarks on the Internet. In 2000, it gained ICANN accreditation status for domain registration[5] and acquired a domain management business called AllDomains the following year.[6][7]

In October 2010, MarkMonitor acquired an anti-piracy company (DtecNet)[8][9][1] and was itself purchased by Thomson Reuters' Intellectual Property & Science business in July 2012. In 2016, the IP division of Reuters, including MarkMonitor, was sold to two venture capital companies, under the new parent company Clarivate Analytics.

In 2022, Clarivate announced that Newfold Digital purchased its subsidiary. Backed by the Clearlake and Siris groups, Newfold is a web and commerce technology provider.

Research

According to the MarkMonitor web site, it has been publishing a report called the Brandjacking Index since 2007, to assess how Internet threats affect corresponding brands.[10] The company's annual report says that cybersquatting increased 18 percent in 2008[11] and "phishing attacks" rose 36 percent in the first quarter of 2009.[12][13]

In 2010, the company estimated that $200 billion in revenues is lost annually as a result of worldwide counterfeiting and piracy on the Internet.[8] The 2011 report said the company had identified 23,000 listings "for clones, suspected counterfeits, or gray market" versions of tablet computers[14] by 8,000 sellers.[15][16] A 2011 opinion piece in Techdirt criticized the research methodology of MarkMonitor's report.[17]

Corporate structure

Half of MarkMonitor's employees are based at its San Francisco facility where its "brand protection solutions" division is located.[18] Domain development, administration and customer service personnel are located in Boise, Idaho, and their anti-fraud and security center is based in Washington DC.[5]

Products and services

According to MarkMonitor, it develops and markets brand protection software and services[19] to combat counterfeiting, piracy, cybersquatting and paid search scams in four categories; domain management, antifraud software, brand protection and antipiracy.[20] The Idaho Statesman reported that "MarkMonitor safeguards more than half of the Fortune 100 brands".[4] MarkMonitor provides services to Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Tencent, YouTube, Wikipedia, and eBay, among others.[21]

References
  1. Howard, Julie (7 January 2003). "Boise firm helps big ones keep their Web sites safe". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved 7 January 2003.
  2. "Clarivate Successfully Completes Divestiture of MarkMonitor to Newfold Digital". PR Newswire. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
  3. "New York-based Thomson Reuters to buy MarkMonitor, founded by Boise residents". Idaho Statesman. July 16, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
  4. Forester, Sandra (July 26, 2012). "New York-based Thomson Reuters to buy MarkMonitor, founded by Boise residents". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  5. "Keeping Watch". American Executive. May 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  6. "Boise firm helps big ones keep their Web sites safe". The Idaho Statesman. January 15, 2004. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  7. Rao, Leena (January 11, 2009). "Internet Watchdog Guards Brands Online". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  8. Wauters, Robin (October 18, 2010). "MarkMonitor Acquires DtecNet To Combat Online Piracy". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  9. Prince, Brian (October 18, 2010). "MarkMonitor Acquires DtecNet to Fight Piracy". eWeek. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  10. Brandjacking Index, MarkMonitor, retrieved December 8, 2012
  11. Mitchell, Robert (June 25, 2009). "Domain-name Wars: Rise of the Cybersquatters". PC World. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  12. Hulme, George (June 29, 2009). "Social Network users Increasingly Under Siege". InformationWeek. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  13. Higgins, Kelly (June 29, 2009). "Report: Social Networking Phishing Attacks Up More Than 240%". Dark Reading. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  14. Lowensohn, Josh (November 1, 2011). "Tablet knockoffs running rampant, brand firm says". CNET. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  15. Camm-Jones, Ben (January 11, 2011). "Fake iPads 'flood the market'". IDG. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  16. Seidman, Andrew (August 17, 2012). "No 'Phishing': Banks Try to Sink Scammers". The Wall Street Journal.
  17. Masnick, Mike (January 13, 2011). "Highly Flawed 'Piracy' Report Used To Support Positions That Are Unrelated". TechDirt. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  18. "Internet watchdog guards brands online" (PDF). San Francisco Business Times. January 9–15, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  19. "Nielsen's Whiting Joins MarkMonitor Board". Brand Week. October 27, 2009. Archived from the original on November 2, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
  20. "MarkMonitor Corporate Overview". MarkMonitor. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  21. Wauters, Robin (July 26, 2012). "Thomson Reuters snaps up online brand protection giant MarkMonitor". The Next Web. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
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