Conflicting policy - using competitor brands as keywords

Can't make sense of Adwords

[travisk]

I'm having a hard time deciding if it's legal or wise to use competitor brands as a KEYWORD to trigger my ads. Obviously it would be moronic to put a competitor's trademark in my ad content, but what about using it as a keyword trigger? Google policy seems to conflict itself:

[adwords.google.com...] (#7)
"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. "

A link on that same page goes to:
[google.com...]
"Please note that we will not disable keywords in response to a trademark complaint. "

What the heck are they even talking about?

Please note that I'm not interested in an ethics debate. There are already plenty of posts to read on that subject.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Hey Travisk, I don't blame you for being uncertain!

I think, though, you may be referencing a cached page. Are you getting to it from a bookmark by any chance - or seeing the link in an old email from AdWords support?

In any case, the policy you quote is quite old, and no longer accurate.

The current page is this one:

What is Google's trademark policy?
[adwords.google.com...]

On the above page, you'll then find a link to Trademark Complaint Procedure:
[google.com...]

Hope that clears it up.

BTW, if you did find that first link on the AdWords site, or in a current email, I'd sure would like to know where. I want to track it down and make it go away. ;)

AWA

[travisk]

I see. Both the old page and the new page point to the same complaint procedure. That page by itself seems to indicate that the use of trademarks in keywords is acceptable inside the United States, but not outside.

[google.com...]

Trademark Complaint Procedure – Trademark rights in US and Canada
Please note that we will not disable keywords in response to a trademark complaint.

Trademark Complaint Procedure – Trademark rights outside US and Canada
When we receive a complaint from a trademark owner, our review is limited to ensuring that the advertisements at issue are not using a term corresponding to the trademarked term in the ad content or as a keyword trigger. If they are, we will require the advertiser to remove the trademarked term from the ad content or keyword list and will prevent the advertiser from using the trademarked term in the future

I understand that AdWordsAdvisor may not comment on this for legal reasons, but maybe someone else can.

[travisk]

To answer your other question, I found that link in an old post on this board. Sorry, I can't seem to find it now.

I also found this thread, which may answer my question:

[webmasterworld.com...]

[AdWordsAdvisor]

I understand that AdWordsAdvisor may not comment on this for legal reasons, but maybe someone else can.

travisk, the documents you are looking at give you the entire story as far as policy. However, in terms of "deciding if it's legal or wise to use competitor brands as a KEYWORD to trigger my ads", the answer is not straightforward. The real answer is it depends.

So, it really depends on a lot of a factors, including:

* Who the competitors are, and

* in which countries they have trademark rights, and

* what they have specifically requested that AdWords do, or not do, within the context of those rights, and,

* to which countries your ads are targeted.

I guess what I'd do if I were really concerned about the specifics in a particular case (so far as policy goes) would be to write to AdWords support in advance. I'd provide all of the bullet-pointed info above for all of the Ad Groups in question, and ask what would fall within policy.

To answer your other question, I found that link in an old post on this board. Sorry, I can't seem to find it now.

Ahhh, that makes sense. Thanks for the info!

AWA