We’re excited to announce Project Zero, a new program that empowers brands to help drive counterfeits to zero. Project Zero combines Amazon’s advanced technology, machine learning, and innovation with the sophisticated knowledge that brands have of their own intellectual property and how best to detect counterfeits of their products. We do this through three powerful tools.
Automated protections
Powered by Amazon’s machine learning expertise, automated protections continuously scan our stores and proactively remove suspected counterfeits. Brands provide us with their logos, trademarks, and other key data about their brand, and we scan over 5 billion product listing updates every day, looking for suspected counterfeits. We’ve been testing these automated protections with a number of brands, and on average, our automated protections proactively stop 100 times more suspected counterfeit products as compared to what we reactively remove based on reports from brands.
Self-service counterfeit removal tool
This tool provides brands with the ability to remove counterfeit listings themselves. Previously, brands would need to report a counterfeit to Amazon, and we would then investigate these reports and take action. With Project Zero, brands no longer need to contact us to remove a counterfeit listing. Instead, they can do so, quickly and easily, using our new self-service tool. This provides brands with an unprecedented ability to directly control and remove listings from our store. This information also feeds into our automated protections so we can better catch potential counterfeit listings proactively in the future.
Product serialization
Product serialization is a service that allows us to individually scan and confirm the authenticity of every one of a brand’s products that are purchased in Amazon’s stores. The product serialization service provides a unique code for every unit that is manufactured, and the brand puts these codes on its products as part of its manufacturing process. Every time a product using our serialization service is ordered in Amazon’s stores, we scan and verify the authenticity of the purchase. With this product serialization service, we can now detect and stop counterfeiting for every product unit before it reaches a customer.
Project Zero gives us a great deal of confidence. It has proven to us that Amazon really cares about helping protect our brand and eliminate counterfeits.
Aaron Muller, co-owner, ChomChom Roller
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.
We’re excited by the positive feedback we’ve received so far from brands that have been using Project Zero. See below.
“Project Zero, with its automated protections and the self-service removal of counterfeit products, is a significant development that will help ensure our customers receive authentic Vera Bradley products from Amazon,” said Mark Dely, chief legal & administrator officer, Vera Bradley.
“When we were offered the opportunity to enroll in Amazon Project Zero, we jumped on it. Every unit we sell through Amazon has a unique, serialized barcode, and our counterfeit problem has nearly disappeared in the United States,” said Phil Blizzard, CEO & founder, Thunderworks.
“Amazon’s product serialization service has been a game changer for us. We are excited to have this self-service counterfeit removal tool for the US Marketplace and consider this to be an insurance policy,” said Ken Minn, CEO, Kenu.
“Project Zero gives us a great deal of confidence. It has proven to us that Amazon really cares about helping protect our brand and eliminate counterfeits,” said Aaron Muller, co-owner, ChomChom Roller.
Project Zero is currently an invite-only experience, and we’re working to add more brands quickly. Learn more about Project Zero and sign up to join.
