Google Adopts Liberal Trademark Policy In Adwords Copy
Hi everyone,
In a major move, early this month, Google has lifted restrictions in 190 countries for using trademarks in Adwords copy. Last year, restrictions were removed from UK and Ireland (the only countries in Europe) with the view that the legal rules were pretty similar to that of the US when it comes to using trademarks as a trigger to show ads in Adwords network.
This is not the case when it comes to France and other European Union countries. Google has lost a number of cases in the courts in France, the highlight being the Louis Vuitton case. It has been tough going in Europe so far. It will be ineteresting to see how the EU countries respond when this policy is introduced there in future.
Google’s premise is that the user deserves the best search experience. It is a perfectly valid perception. As an example, if you sell Vodafone mobile phone cases, you could have an ad
Own Vodafone mobile?
Buy Your Vodafone Case From Us
If the trademark restriction was in place, the same ad would read
Own mobile phone?
Buy Your Mobile Phone Case From Us
There is definitely lack of clarity in the second ad which is restricted by use of trademark in the ad copy. In the new scheme of things, the trademark can be used as a keyword to trigger your ad for display when someone searches for Vodafone case.
If the trademark owner has asked Google for a specific ban, there is no way anyone can get around it except in the following circumstances:
- If you are a reseller of the product
- Sales of parts and accessories for that product
- Informational reviews of the product as long as your review is non-competitive and you are not selling goods and services of the trademark owner’s competitor
The last point above is a matter of debate and it is very hard to enforce it. If you have a landing page with Adsense ads on it, your trademark owner’s competitors are going to appear on that page though your sales pitch is for your trademark owner’s product or service. Alternatively, you could own a product review site where you write about all the major companies in that sphere of activity.
If you are in a situation where you write a negative review about a company’s product, you have to use the trademark. According to Terri Chen, senior trademark counsel at Goolge, Google’s Anti Policy covers this aspect:
Ad text advocating against any organization, person, or group of people is not permitted.
This is again treading in a grey area. It is again left to the respective law of the land involved to sort any issues that come up in the courts. Using trademark in ad copy is not viewed uniformly by courts across the world and Google must certainly be aware of the legal implications involving this move.
Chen further says - “I definitely think it’s true that the law is unsettled, but we still believe our policies are correct,” We want to focus on what’s best for user.”
Danny Sullivan opines - “Again, I agree — the trademarks in ad text will be a better user experience. But why all of a sudden is Google opened things up broadly? From my call, I couldn’t get a crystal clear answer as to why other than after a regular review, it seemed the right time for a change.
Of course, the right time for such a change might also be because Google’s seeing its revenues slow. Letting more ads show for trademark terms — letting trademark terms appear in ad copy — both help the bottom line. Isn’t that is?”
“No, Chen said.”
The timing of this move by Google may be aimed at shoring up its ad revenues and at the same time giving the users a great experience. Only time can tell.
For the complete article, you can read the detailed article on Searchengineland titled Google To Allow Trademarks To Be Used In AdWords Copy In US
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