Amazon’s Project Zero launches to help brands fight counterfeiters

Amazon has introduced a new three-pronged approach to reduce the volume of counterfeit products on the site. Project Zero is an invite-only program for Amazon sellers that will enable automated protections, a self-service removal tool and a product serialization process to help brands fight back against fake products.

Automated Protections. Amazon’s new automated protections process is powered by machine learning technology that continuously scans product listings on the platform. Scanning more than five billion listings and product updates daily, Amazon report its automated service will proactively remove suspected counterfeit products.

“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,” writes Amazon’s VP of customer trust and partner support Dharmesh Mehta.

A self-service removal tool. With Amazon’s new self-service counterfeit removal tool, brands will no longer have to report fake products to Amazon and wait for an action to be taken. Instead Amazon sellers will be able to remove counterfeit product listings on their own, without having to report the fake product.

When a product is removed, Amazon feeds that information into its automated protections platform to inform future actions against potential counterfeit listings

Product serialization. Amazon is also rolling out a product serialization service where a brand is given unique codes that are placed on each unit it manufactures. When a product that includes a serialization code is ordered, Amazon can 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,” writes Mehta.

Why you should care. Amazon is taking a more proactive stand against counterfeit products being sold on the site — creating automated systems that remove products without action on the a brand’s part and giving sellers more control to fight counterfeits with the self-service tool and product serialization process.

Ken Minn, CEO of Kenu, a manufacturer of hands-free phone-mounting devices participating in the program, said Amazon’s new product serialization process is a significant development and says the self-service removal tool acts as an insurance policy for his company.

Another Amazon seller reported fake reviews have drastically dropped. “Every unit we sell through Amazon has a unique, serialized barcode, and our counterfeit problem has nearly disappeared in the United States,” said Thunderworks CEO Phil Blizzard.