That service is used by publishers to understand what topics are trending, and by companies to do real-time social media monitoring and brand tracking.

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If a brand-tracking firm can't identify a contraband toy sold online, how can unsuspecting parents?

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That's the finding of a study released Tuesday by brand abuse tracking firm, MarkMonitor, measuring the disturbing growth of counterfeit drug sales on the Web.

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Brand-tracking software and consultancy firm MarkMonitor set out to track down the Web sales of four toy brands that have been recalled in recent months by toy makers Mattel and RC2.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Brand-tracking software and consultancy firm MarkMonitor set out to track down the Web sales of four toy brands that have been recalled in recent months by toy makers Mattel (nyse: MAT - news - people ) and RC2.

FORBES: Toxic Toys On The Web

Brand Keys only started tracking the category back in 2011.

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For brands they offer brand pages and influencer tracking.

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They can be used for brand security and supply chain tracking of foods that normally can't be tagged with traditional bar codes.

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This is a big shift for a brand which had been steadily increasing in perception since we began tracking it in mid-2007 and placed at number six on our 2011 half-year ranking of the brands with the most Buzz.

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"Marketing is getting more experimental, more aggressive and more direct, " says Andy Glaser, brand director at Heineken USA, who adds that the four annual tracking studies the company performs show that its U.S. Open sponsorship improves its recall with customers.

FORBES: Open Sponsors, Open Wallets