Google Changes Trademark Policy On Ad Words
"[W]e are adjusting our trademark policy in the U.S. to allow some ads to use trademarks in the ad text. This change will bring Google's policy on trademark use in ad text more in line with the industry standard," Dan Friedman, part of Google's Inside AdWords team, wrote on the company blog. "Under certain criteria, you can use trademark terms in your ad text in the U.S. even if you don't own that trademark or have explicit approval from the trademark owner to use it."
The company believes that by loosening the restrictions on its trademark policy, Google will create a better experience for users overall. Of course, that heightened experience may not apply to the actual owner of the trademark.
The goal is to help advertisers create more targeted ads that will help them pitch goods and services to people performing the search.
Until the policy change took place this week, Google had forbidden companies from using trademarked words in advertising copy unless they owned the trademark or had obtained permission from the owner of the mark.
This means that a company like Reebok could, theoretically, purchase the trademarked term "Nike" from Google. Once Reebok has paid for the term, whenever a user searches for "Nike shoes" -- or some derivative thereof -- a paid Reebok ad will be triggered and appear in the paid ad section of the search results. Paid-for terms appear at the top of the page when Google returns search results.
And because of changes to the policy, companies purchasing the trademarked term -- i.e., "Nike" -- won't have to ask the owners of the trademark for permission.
Google argues on its blog that barring non-trademark owners from using trademarked words is, in a way, a bit ridiculous, pointing to a supermarket ad in a newspaper as an example.
"Imagine opening your Sunday paper and seeing ads from a large supermarket chain that didn't list actual products for sale; instead, they simply listed the categories of products available -- offers like "Buy discount cola" and "Snacks on sale." The ads wouldn't be useful since you wouldn't know what products are actually being offered. For many categories of advertisers, this is the problem they have faced on Google for some time," the company wrote.
Not surprisingly, trademark owners are already taking umbrage with the changes to the ad policy. On Monday, Firepond, a Texas software company filed a class action lawsuit against Google for itself and on the behalf of all trademark owners in the state, Reuters reports.
Terri Chen, Google senior trademark counsel, told Reuters that the changes to the ad policy might make some trademark owners unhappy. But Chen believes that ultimately the changes to Google's ad policy comply with well-established legal principle in the U.S.