However, over the past several months since this has been put into effect, I continue to find large numbers of advertisers running ad copy containing this trademark term -- a term the editors are supposed to be prohibiting.
So, I report them to Adwords. And report more of them to Adwords. And even more of them. A few dozen now.
Many I haven't seen again, but several keep showing up. Finally Adwords informed me that some of these advertisers have permission from the trademark holder to use the term. Fine, I say, just let me know who they are and I'll stop reporting them.
Sorry, we can't do that. That's confidential information.
I'm not asking for a list of all advertisers that have persmission. I'm only asking whether the ones I'm repeately having to report have permission.
Nope. That's confidential.
How can it be confidential any longer if the advertiser is using the term in their ads? They are implicitly publicizing the fact they have permission. If Adwords' editors were doing their jobs correctly, then anybody could identify that an advertiser had permission based on the fact that they used the term in their ad copy. Since the advertiser themselves is disclosing through their actions that they have permission, then it cannot be a breach of confidentiality to confirm that they have permission.
Silence.
[and without such a confirmation, and with such a large, on-going flow of advertisers getting past Adwords' editorial screening, it feels a bit like CYA -- denial of information to assess whether the editors are doing their jobs and whether advertisers are being treated fairly.</rant>
... without such a confirmation, and with such a large, on-going flow of advertisers getting past Adwords' editorial screening, it feels a bit like CYA -- denial of information to assess whether the editors are doing their jobs and whether advertisers are being treated fairly...
Cline, while I can understand your frustration, please know that no one at AdWords will be able to give you any information about any other advertiser - which is exactly as it should be.
It is not CYA. Rather, it is an extremely important obligation that we have to each one of our advertisers.
AWA
no one at AdWords will be able to give you any information about any other advertiser - which is exactly as it should be
Ah, but it's not true, and it is the falseness of this statement that is my point. By running ads Adwords is giving information about advertisers. That information is, among other things:
* who is advertising
* what are they advertising
* what their landing pages are
* what trademark terms they use in their ad copy
If the statement were true, then Adwords could not run ads. This situation isn't about confidential information.
There is a huge difference, in that the information in an ad is provided by the advertiser to possible customers.
G$ is reasonably expected to deliver the information that an advertiser specifies to any potential customer. It is also reasonably expected not to discuss any additional information that the advertiser does not specifically want to disclose.
Freq---
Google seems to think its organization should be accorded a higher level of confidentiality than anyone else is accorded.
The fundamental point here is the same. Through what it publishes as search results and as advertising Google is implicitly providing information that some people would prefer would be confidential. But, the cat is out of the bag. It's now published. Which means it's no longer a secret.
If the TM holder is unwilling to give out a list of who has permission to use the TM terms, then Google would be very far out of line to do so.
The only way Adwords can avoid disclosing that you have special permission to use a term in your ad copy is to prevent you from using the term in your ad copy. Once you use the term in your copy, you've disclosed the information. It's no longer confidential.
Cline, I think you are somewhat inconsistent in your complaint. If the information you seek is publicly available in the search engine just get it yourself. If its not available in the search engine, then Google certainly shouldn't disclose it selectively too you.
