Counterfeiting is a booming, trillion-dollar industry that costs businesses around the world billions of dollars a year. Its growth has been fueled by the rise of ecommerce, which a government report says has led to “a fundamental change in the market for counterfeit goods.” That report, published last year by the Government Accountability Office, found that the volume and variety of counterfeit goods seized by officials has grown year after year, and it’s increasingly difficult to distinguish knockoffs from the real thing. It also notes that fraudulent goods are sold on a number of different ecommerce platforms. The Trump administration has signaled it wants to take the issue more seriously. In April, President Trump asked the Justice, Commerce, and Homeland Security Departments for recommendations on potential regulatory and legislative fixes to address counterfeits on third-party marketplaces.

But on Amazon, counterfeits can be uniquely devastating, in part because of the site’s sheer scale. Half of all US ecommerce sales go to Amazon, and the site is also where about half of all product searches on the web begin. Not many companies can afford to avoid it. If they do stay away, they risk letting other sellers determine how their brand is marketed on one of the biggest online retailers in the world.

Another problem is the way Amazon is designed. Unlike on eBay, Etsy, or other online marketplaces, a single Amazon product listing can feature offers from dozens of independent sellers. The company uses an algorithm to decide which merchant’s goods should be the default, based on factors like price and shipping speed. Winning the default slot, referred to as the “Buy Box,” gives sellers an enormous advantage. Customers can “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now” their products with a single click, while the losers are hidden behind a dropdown menu. The idea is to allow consumers to quickly make a purchase, without needing to sift through every similar option. But the system, experts say, also makes sneaking counterfeits into the hands of consumers easy.

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For years, manufacturers that make all kinds of products, from furniture lifting straps and hippie sandals to electronic charging cables and children’s pillows, have publicly complained about counterfeit versions of their goods on Amazon. Some have tried seeking legal remedy. Three years ago, Apple sued an Amazon wholesaler over fake iPhone charging cables and other phony items it offered. (Apple told The Los Angeles Times last fall that the dispute had been resolved.) Judges have often ruled that Amazon isn’t liable for the fakes being sold on its platform, arguing that the company itself is not the seller.

Amazon is aware there may be fake products on its site, and warned investors for the first time last month that it “may be unable to prevent sellers in our stores or through other stores from selling unlawful, counterfeit, pirated, or stolen goods.” The company has also fought back against counterfeiters by filing lawsuits in partnership with brands like Vera Bradley and Otterbox.

In March, Amazon unveiled a new program called Project Zero that allows some sellers to automatically remove counterfeit listings, without needing to go through the typical bureaucracy. It’s not yet widely available. “In order to detect bad actors and potentially counterfeit products, we make significant investments in machine learning and automated systems,” Tagay, the Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement. “We employ dedicated teams of software engineers, applied scientists, program managers, and investigators to operate and continually refine our anti-counterfeiting programs.”

But at Amazon’s size, some issues can still fall through the cracks, and cases like Gumball Poodle’s end up happening. “What Amazon is publicly saying about what they’re doing about helping patent holders and trademark holders to protect their brands, it’s still not working, and [Gumball Poodle] is a perfect use case of how it’s not working,” says Thomson.

Navigating the Labyrinth

Easley says she tried contacting Amazon to alert them to the knockoff listings multiple times. She filed four complaints in its Brand Registry portal starting on May 21, none of which the company took action on. At one point, she says, Amazon told Easley that her complaints amounted to only a dispute between distributors. Her lawyer also tried reaching out, and Easley says he was initially ignored as well.