Amazon Project Zero Now Open: How to Remove Fake Products from Amazon

Article by: Orca Pacific

October 31, 2019

• News and Updates,
• Operations

[UPDATED: Oct. 31, 2019]

Project Zero, Amazon’s brand protection program meant to “drive counterfeits to zero”, is now open to all eligible brands. The program, which was announced in February of this year, was previously an invite-only beta with the option to join a wait-list. As of Oct. 31, 2019, the program is now available to rights owners who meet the eligibility requirements in the U.S., UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Japan, according to an email sent by Amazon.

To check if you are eligible, sign in using the username and password associated with your Amazon Brand Registry account (learn more about eligibility requirements here).

Removing counterfeit products from Amazon has long been a tumultuous process, often requiring brands to order suspected counterfeit items and prove their illegitimacy before filing for their removal. Project Zero is meant to empower brands with means to take action.

Our aim is that customers always receive authentic goods when shopping on Amazon. Project Zero builds on our long-standing work and investments in this area. It allows brands to work with us to leverage our combined strengths to move quickly and at scale to drive counterfeits to zero. – Amazon Blog

What is Project Zero?

From faulty headphones to imitative sneakers, counterfeit products create negative outcomes for both brands and consumers. Amazon’s Project Zero empowers brand with the means to take action.

Amazon will offer up its advanced technology and machine learning capabilities while counting on brands to use their intellectual property and industry knowledge to proactively thwart counterfeit attempts.

The program features three innovative tools: self-service counterfeit removal, automated protections, and product serialization.

1. Self-Service Counterfeit Removal

Through Project Zero, Amazon will allow approved brands to remove counterfeit products from the platform instantly. With unprecedented autonomy to protect their products and consumers, brands who notice imitative products will no longer be limited in action. Since brands are often the first to spot suspicious activity, false products can be caught before they end up in the hands of thousands of unsuspecting consumers.

To ensure that the tool is used properly, Amazon will review all removed listings after the fact. Amazon will also collect the data on counterfeit listings and feed it into their second new tool: an AI-powered automated protection for brands.

2. Automated Protections

With their machine learning expertise, Amazon developed a tool that operates behind-the-scenes to locate and remove counterfeit products from storefronts. Brands provide Amazon with logos, trademarks, and other data with which the technology actively scans the 5 billion daily product listing updates for activity that is traditionally linked to counterfeit products.

After testing with select brands, Amazon reported that their technology has been shown to detect and remove 100 times more counterfeited products from the platform on average than current brand-led reporting.

3. Product Serialization

For brands looking to take protective measures a step further, Amazon will be offering product serialization. The measure calls on brands to attach designated serial codes to products during manufacturing which Amazon will then scan before shipping to ensure product authenticity.

While the self-service and automated protections of Project Zero are at no cost to the brand, product serialization does carry a price between one and five cents per item. As long as implementation is carried out effectively, brands can all but guarantee that counterfeit products will never find their way into the hands of their consumers.

Final Thoughts

Whether through serialization of products or proactive monitoring, brands who enroll in Project Zero will have more to work with in the fight against fake products. With a dual approach that combines the strengths of brands and Amazon alike, bringing counterfeits to zero has become a real possibility.