Social media poses challenges for trademark holders by making it difficult and costly for them to monitor for infringements across multiple platforms and content that can be endlessly shared. As social media sites change their target audiences and terms of service, it becomes harder for trademark holders to protect their brands and reach their intended markets. There is a need for a trademark protocol and database system where trademark holders can proactively authorize acceptable usage of their marks online, which could then enable automated monitoring and enforcement by service providers at lower cost while giving control back to trademark owners.