Keep in mind that the reason Google is doing this (I guess) is that they're tired of being the middle-person in trademark disputes. It won't stop your competitor/supplier/whatever from taking you to court over trademark abuse or misleading customers.
The TOS has different wording. I seem to remember wording about keyword removal before -- and that is gone.
[google.com ]
I don't think they would make a big deal about this policy change. I suspect it is in effect.
Does anyone remember the prior wording?
The ban does not seem to have been lifted in the US yet.
I still get hit with it at least once or twice a week on new terms when I'm adding them.
MQ
google has stopped accept new trademark complaint, but don't know when will they open the trademark bidding
The new trademark policy is now fully implemented, and advertisers in the US and Canada may use 'trademarked' words as keywords. However, use of trademarked words in ad text can still be 'protected' by trademark owners.
Please note that there are different 'Complaint Procedures' (and therefore different types of protection available to the trademark owners) for those in the US and Canada, and those who are not. For details please follow the links below:
What is Google's trademark policy?
[adwords.google.com...]
Trademark Complaint Procedure – Trademark rights in US and Canada
[google.com...]
Trademark Complaint Procedure – Trademark rights outside US and Canada
[google.com...]
I still get hit with it at least once or twice a week on new terms when I'm adding them.
Mquarles, if you are in the US or Canada, then my best guess is that you're using 'Keyword Insertion' in the Ad Group in question. This would allow the trademark to appear in the ad itself, where it can still be 'protected' by the trademark owner. For this reason, in cases where Keyword Insertion is used, then trademarked names will be disapproved.
So you may want to consider separating out those trademarked words into another Ad Group in which Keyword Insertion is not used.
On the other hand if you are not in the US and Canada, then trademarked names can still be 'protected' when used as keywords as well.
Hope that makes things more clear.
AWA
...isn't it hypocritical of Google not to allow targeting of the term [google]?
Ahhh, well this has changed as well. It's OK to use 'Google' as a keyword, although not in ad text at present. So the same standards as for other trademark owners, I'm proud to say. ;)
AWA
Thanks for the real answers as always! I am in the U.S., but these were for Global, English-Language campaigns. Do you think that's the problem?
MQ
...these were for Global, English-Language campaigns. Do you think that's the problem?
Yes, this is most likely the problem, mquarles. If you have your ads set to show to the entire world, then they'll be appearing in the US and Canada.
And if the ads can appear in the US and Canada, then trademarked keywords used in Ad Groups with keyword insertion will be disapproved. As mentioned above, this is because the trademarked words could show up in the ad copy itself.
AWA
Keyword Status: Suspended
Keyword Issue(s): Keyword trademark term
for terms I put in today because of your earlier post?
BTW, this ad group uses regional US targeting with static titles.
Let me be more clear. Within the last week I have had terms disapproved because of trademark, and these were for ads with no keyword insertion, so the term would not appear in the ad. An example would be a well known four-letter computer manufacturer based in Austin, TX, or a well-known five-letter manufacturer of routing equipment and lots of other stuff whose name is occasionally confused with a large food service/products company.
The keywords were disapproved because of trademark issues, but the ads were allowed to run. Is it possible the message has not fully filtered down to the reviewers?
MQ
In the meantime, two points to keep in mind, though, when dealing with trademark disapprovals:
* Review and approval (or disapproval) is handled on a case by case basis, taking into account the factors that pertain to that particular case. This includes the targeting of the Campaign, and where in the world (literally) trademark rights exist for the keywords in question. (This can vary from trademarked keyword to keyword, and is one of the nuances I was referring to above.)
* However, it is still possible for mistakes to be made - perhaps even more so with a new policy. So, if you feel that a mistake has been made, then I'd suggest replying directly to the disapproval email, and request that the case be reviewed by the trademark team. This will cause it to be reviewed by the very folks that set the policy.
More tomorrow.
AWA
I'll try again tomorrow.
In the meantime, mquarles and cline, I hope you have contacted AdWords support regarding your specific disapprovals. There are enough variables in play that these sorts of questions are best addressed after a look at the actual account.
More soon.
AWA
thanks for the useful update.....
I think this is where I was not clear earlier:
It is not where the trademark owner (or advertiser) is based that matters - but in which countries the trademark owner has trademark rights.
Quoting from the Trademark Complaint Procedure (http://www.google.com/tm_complaint.html)
As a courtesy to trademark owners, however, we are willing to perform a limited investigation of reasonable complaints. Our procedure differs depending on the country in which trademark rights exist
A mini-summary of the policy:
If trademark owner has trademark rights in US and/or Canada: Trademark owner may request that trademark not appear in ad copy targeted to US and/or Canada. However, may not request that trademark be disallowed as keyword.
If Trademark owner has trademark rights (in some, or all) countries outside US and Canada: Trademark owner may request that trademark not appear in ad copy and/or as keywords in ads targeted to those countries in which trademark rights exist.
So it boils down to the following, as judged on a case-by-case basis:
* Where the trademark rights exist
* What the trademark owner has specifically requested, within their rights, and
* The targetting of the campaigns in which the ads appear.
Based on this, in cline's case I would have guessed that the problem would have been an error on our part, which evidently was the case. I am glad this is now resolved, and our apologies for the error cline.
In mquarles's case, since the ads were evidently targeted globally, it depends on where the trademark owner has rights. And this would need to be addressed based on an actual look at the keywords in question. So again, I'd promote the idea of responding to the disapproval email.
Hope this helps. As an aside I should mention that I'll be out of the office on Monday 6/28, and most likely will not be able to follow/post on WebmasterWorld till Tuesday.
AWA
MQ
When we receive a complaint from a trademark owner, our review is limited to ensuring that the advertisements at issue are not using the trademarked term as a keyword trigger. If they are, we disable those keywords from the ad campaign.
Doesn't [adwords.google.com...] need updating?
Good catch, cline! I'll pass this on the the writing team in the next few minutes.
Many thanks.
AWA
