Amazon Transparency vs Project Zero: Which Program Actually Protects Your Brand?

Where Transparency Provides Stronger Protection

Transparency is the more direct fit when your priority is verifying the units customers receive.

Once protection is active, enrolled products require valid, matching codes in supported Amazon stores. This applies to both Amazon-fulfilled and seller-fulfilled orders. Its checks can also identify incorrect product versions, including differences in compatibility or language. Sell on Amazon

Consider a brand introducing a frequently imitated accessory. Rather than relying solely on spotting suspicious offers, it can incorporate authentication into the product’s journey to the customer.

That is a different protective mechanism from removing a listing after your team identifies it.

However, enrollment alone is not activation. Amazon requires products to pass an operational performance review before Transparency protections become active. Sell on Amazon

Prioritize Transparency when your team can reliably maintain serialized inventory and wants authentication built into fulfillment. Learn more about Brand Alignment’s Amazon Transparency management support.

Where Project Zero Provides Stronger Protection

Project Zero’s distinctive advantage is direct action against confirmed counterfeits. Eligible brands can remove counterfeit offers or listings without waiting for the standard Amazon investigation workflow. Those removals also help improve Amazon’s automated protections against future attempts. Amazon News

That makes it particularly useful when your team repeatedly identifies counterfeits but needs a faster enforcement route.

However, speed increases the importance of accuracy. Amazon recommends test purchases to confirm suspected counterfeits before removal. The tool is specifically for counterfeits, not every disagreement involving your products or intellectual property. Sell on Amazon

Build a review process around identifiable evidence: the purchased item, packaging, order details, photographs, and documented differences from authentic inventory.

An unfamiliar storefront or unusually low price should prompt investigation, not an automatic counterfeit conclusion.

Give reviewers current product specifications and reference samples, especially when packaging changes or regional versions could explain a difference. Record the specific reason for each removal and preserve all supporting evidence. When the facts remain unclear, investigate further rather than using removal speed alone as the primary measure of success.

Prioritize Project Zero when your team has the expertise, evidence, and eligibility to make accurate removal decisions.

Eligibility Can Determine Which Program Comes First

Transparency requires a Brand Registry account with the rights-owner role, an active registered trademark, and a Global Trade Item Number for each enrolled product. Your operation must also meet the applicable serialization requirements. Sell on Amazon

Project Zero adds an enforcement-history requirement. Amazon currently requires trademark rights ownership, Brand Registry access, and qualifying Report a Violation activity within the previous six months, with at least a 90% acceptance rate. It also considers policy compliance and additional eligibility criteria; reaching 90% alone does not guarantee access. sell.amazon.com

After enrollment, brands must maintain at least 99% removal accuracy to retain Project Zero access. Training and ongoing monitoring support that requirement. Sell on Amazon

These percentages measure different things: accepted reports before enrollment versus accurate removals afterward.

A brand that is not yet eligible should continue submitting well-supported reports through Brand Registry rather than treating Project Zero as immediately available.

Can You Use Transparency and Project Zero Together?

Yes. Amazon explicitly supports combining Project Zero with serialization through Transparency. You do not need serialization to use Project Zero’s removal tool, but adding it provides another protective mechanism. Sell on Amazon

For a brand facing recurring counterfeits, we recommend evaluating the combination rather than forcing an either-or decision.

Use Transparency for selected products where reliable unit authentication is operationally achievable. Use Project Zero, where eligible, for evidence-backed counterfeit removals.

Assign separate owners for serialization operations and enforcement review, then share findings between them. An authentication exception should trigger investigation; a counterfeit removal should inform where closer monitoring may be needed.

Judge the combined workflow by whether incidents are identified, verified, and resolved consistently—not simply by how many tools your brand has activated.

Neither Program Provides Blanket Seller Control

An unauthorized seller is not automatically a counterfeiter. Amazon distinguishes distribution-agreement disputes from intellectual property infringement; lack of brand permission alone is not proof of counterfeiting. Amazon Seller Central

Likewise, a reseller holding genuine inventory with valid, matching Transparency codes may satisfy authentication requirements. Seller Central explicitly accommodates Transparency-enabled products sourced from vendors. Authentication does not establish whether your brand approved that reseller. Amazon Seller Central

When genuine inventory keeps reaching unwanted sellers, investigate how it entered those channels instead of treating counterfeit tools as a universal remedy.

For disputed infringement or distribution rights, consult qualified counsel before escalating claims.

Which Program Actually Protects Your Brand?

Both can protect your brand when matched to the correct problem. Transparency addresses unit authenticity; Project Zero provides direct counterfeit enforcement supported by automated prevention. Neither should be mistaken for a complete marketplace strategy. Sell on Amazon

Our recommendation is to start with evidence: identify the threat, confirm eligibility, and assign responsibility for the work each program requires.

At Brand Alignment, we combine marketplace monitoring, seller investigation, and supply-chain analysis to help brands distinguish visible symptoms from underlying causes.

Talk to our team about building a protection strategy around your actual marketplace exposure—not just choosing another Amazon program. Contact Brand Alignment