How is a company bidding on "Google"

Someone is bidding on Google

[AndrewInternet]

Can anyone tell me how a company have been allowed to bid on the Keyword "Google". I would have have thought Google would have prohibited it?

[edited by: eWhisper at 1:40 pm (utc) on Aug. 24, 2006]
[edit reason]
[1][edit reason] Please don't post company specifics [/edit] [/edit][/1]

[fergusferrier]

I'm sure (or rather, I'd hope), when they next check their account stats, they'll stop bidding on this term.

Maybe they've got a broad match on something else that is not "Google" but which is showing up for 'Google'?

I wonder what other words are related to Google? Suggestions folks?

[eWhisper]

In the US, one can bid on trademarked names. However, one must receive approval from the trademark holder to use the term in the adcopy.

[briggidere]

msn and yahoo as expanded broad match maybe?

[eWhisper]

FYI -

Good reply by AWA here:
[webmasterworld.com...]

[AndrewInternet]

Somebody from the Company in Question has just told me through another forum that he found the quality score for the word had somehow reset itself - Letting people bid on it.

I said it must be costing a fortune - but he gave me these figures from that day.

[Google] Active £0.55 Settings

£0.55 Max CPC
[edit] 63 32,081 0.19% £0.55 £34.65 1.1 3.23% £17.05

I have no reason to not believe the above. However, I can't understand how a CTR of 0.19% is still being allowed at 55p. Maybe Google haven't sorted their sysyems out.

It also appears that you can get converting traffic from non specific keywords.

[jtara]

Actually, I'd ask the opposite question: why AREN'T companies bidding on "Google"? (Or, why aren't their ads displayed?)

I checked yesterday (before the post was edited) and there were NO ads displayed for "Google". Certainly not the one that was mentioned.

Today, there is ONE ad - for a financial publication - that says "get information on any company".

Why should the rules be any different for Google than for any other trademarked term?

In the U.S. Google permits you to bid on trademarked terms.

Have they done something special to prevent bidding on "Google"? (Or set the price sky-high?) Or do they just have everybody shaking in their boots worrying about what might happen if they bid on "Google"? :)

[Khensu]

I have done it for 1 hour.

The flow was so incredible and CTR so low I didn't want blow my campaign out of the water with it so I shut it down.

I still bid on microsoft on content which does well (ms office related free downloads).