VCCP Search becomes first agency to pass all intellectual property rights to clients

3rd February 2009

VCCP Search becomes the first agency to announce that the intellectual property rights to all its clients' paid search accounts are now to be vested with the client.

This move, the first by any UK search or media agency, puts the power into the hands of VCCP Search's clients and means that they can more easily move their account wherever and whenever they choose, without any disruption, loss of history or downtime.

Traditionally media and search agency contracts state that the intellectual property rights to clients' paid search accounts such as Google Adwords remain with the agency, and only by negotiation and with the agency's consent can this be passed on to a different provider or taken in house. This has caused a great deal of discussion and disconcertion within the industry as clients believe that their accounts are too tightly ring-fenced and there are unnecessary barriers to changing their partners, despite the fact that Google have actually made the process very simple. It has meant termination of contracts is often fraught and causes unnecessary friction.

With Google becoming an increasingly vital to channel in the advertising mix and the driving force behind the growth of online advertising in general, intellectual property rights to paid search accounts is a very hot issue bearing in mind the huge sums brands are investing in this channel every month.

VCCP Search's announcement is one of the most fundamental moves in the sector and echoes the rapidly changing climate within the search industry in the wake of Google's recent changes to its trademark policy, continued click cost inflation and the ending of its 'Best Practice Funding' scheme, which have caused a flurry of major search pitches as agencies which relied on this income have been forced to renegotiate commercial terms with their clients.

VCCP Search's move effectively 'future proofs' a client's search campaign. It ensures that the only factor tying the client to the agency is continued strong performance. Paul Mead, MD of VCCP Search says: "This is an innovative move which we hope other agencies will follow. A client pays for an agency's expertise to manage their search campaigns and ensure the best use of their budget. If that client wants to change agency or move their business in-house, that process should be made as easy as possible. Pro-active agencies, which are genuinely adding value to the search process, will have nothing to fear over shifting the power to their clients in this respect. It will be interesting to see which ones adopt this new approach." This move comes hot on the heals of VCCP Search launching in the US after winning the Cheapflights.com global PPC pitch.