Adwords violation?

USes keyword for brand X , but only ells brand Y

[D_Blackwell]

We don't use adwords, so my knowledge is pretty thin beyond watching from the sidelines. Is this situation ok or not?

Competitor has ad prominently mentioning brand X on line 1, with generic widget description on line 2. They don't sell brand X. Clicking the ad lands the user to a page featuring brand Y.

[starboy]

Dunno why the advertiser would do that. Seems to me that all he'll get is a lot of annoyed people who might have been customers for his product if he had advertised it in his Adwords ad.

[beren]

I doubt that is against any AdWords rules, and I'm sure it happens a lot.

[PatrickDeese]

There's nothing wrong with it.

Searcher looks for Apples, which triggers the Florida Citrus Council's ad for the benefits of oranges - As far as I understand, the rule is that you cannot use the competitor's brand name in the ad, but you can certainly trigger an ad for a competing product.

[D_Blackwell]

In this case, the search term is 'brand name', and they don't sell this brand. It's not an exclusive thing, as many people sell the brand - but they don't.

Closer inspection shows that this is pretty common though. At least half the advertisers don't carry the brand either.

It doesn't make much difference one way or the other. Generally, I don't see the brand Xers being swayed. In this niche they will usually want what they want, and not want something else. I quess it's just a surprise to me that I shouldn't find surprising.