Is Google Now Allowing Brandnames in the Adverts

adwords, brandnames, trademarks

[shiphen]

Hi

Is it true that Google is now allowing brandnames to appear in the actual adverts themselves ?

We thought Google was only going to allow us to bid on brandname keywords... but if you type "sony bravia" into google.co.uk you get lots of adverts with "Sony" (and sometimes also "Bravia") appearing.

e.g. this one:
>>>
Sony Bravia Tv
Buy your Sony LCD Tv online.
Sony bravia tv.
>>>

Ship
Shiperton Henethe

[300m]

Google is not doing well on stopping Trademark violations these days. I am of the opinion that they are basically letting it slide until the registerd trademark holder complains. At least that has been my observation in the past several weeks when it happens to our trademarks. They do usually take them down as soon as we complain, but until we gripe it seems like it is fair game currently.

[wrgvt]

I saw an ad on one of my sites yesterday, where they built a W like this:

\/\/

and used it as part of a brand name that must be trademarked. I had to give them points for originality.

[outland88]

If you're Sony are you going to object to the use of your trademark to sell your TV's and increase your profits? Of course not. Sony though will likely request the disallowance of ads if quite a few are abusing the use of their trademark to attract buyers for instance to LG or Toshiba sets. That smirks of deception. In fact if Google pursued what you mention only the mentioned sites would have ads. It just seems like a two way street in many areas unless somebody gets particularly abusive with the trademarks. In other words all parties involved will deny knowledge of the situation until a complaint is involved. Similar with Adsense and You Tube.

[300m]

"If you're Sony are you going to object to the use of your trademark to sell your TV's and increase your profits? Of course not."

I understand your point, but try looking at it like the person that holds the registered trademark. Meaning how would you feel if affiliate and resellers were making money from trademark keywords. Thats an easy route and also a very easy way to make money. It also takes away the bottom line of the company that holds the Tradmark. I am talking to Google daily about Trademark violators and they do take care of them, but it would be much easier if they would simply disallow people from bidding on registered treademark names.

I am not Sony, but I do work for a company that holds several registered trademarks for our product names and we completely object to resellers and affiliates using a trademark to make a quick buck.

We have reseller and affiliates for a reason, to make us more money in avenues we would not normally have the opportunity to go down, not to trounce all over our trademark keywords and drive everyone's cost up.

"In fact if Google pursued what you mention only the mentioned sites would have ads."

Do a Google search for the keyword Google. Currently there is one ad listed, their own ad. You mean to tell me that Nobody else on Planet earth wants to run an ad on it? Thats something i seriously doubt.

This is not something i am alone in thinkin on..I am reading todays WSJ and there is an article about this very subject.

With all of that said, I still think Google is not playing fair, but thats because they have a legal team kicks butt.

[piatkow]

Look in a newspaper, B&M stores will advertise what brands they stock and nobody seems to regard that as a problem. If you are stocking and supplying a product then it is legit to advertise it. If a manufacturer competes in the retail sector with its own distributors then that is their problem.

[shiphen]

I think it depends on whether the brand name sells directly to the public or whether it's always through intermediaries (i.e. retailers and/or wholesalers).

Samsung seems not to sell direct (?) but Sony seems less clear cut -because the do sell a %age direct through SonyStyle.

The more enlightened brandnames only pick a fight when it is a clear case of "passing off".

In the case Apple they have a history of being extremely agressive about defending their primary brand names e.g. "ipod".

It appears that we are (now) all allowed to bid for these keywords on Google, but the key question is are we allowed to use these keywords in the advert copy.

[300m]

A reseller may have a valid point with the "stocking" theory, but affiliates do not carry stock, so that would kind of put them in a different position.

[KaloVast]

I have trademark problems all the time. Some ads stay active for months and then are disapproved suddenly, while others i can't even finish creating. Some trademarked terms are less important than others, but one specific term is something i NEED to be able to use. I was able to contact Google to find out the specific method of getting the trademark owner to authorize consent, and Google was kind enough to give me the email address of the trademark owner. All i need to do now is wait for them to hopefully give us permission!

[Vis3R]

I am just starting to use AdWords, and am having a lot of problems with trademarks. Even if i disguise them as 0 (number) instead of o (character). What else can I do? If i can't use the name of the brand I'm promoting, then what is the point of diplaying the ad there... There must be a way to get around this.. how are you all doing it? since i see a lot of ads with the SAME names used that I want, and they're never denied. How come?