Google’s trademark policy for AdWords is causing concern over the possible costs it could mean for big brands this holiday season.
In May 2009, the company change the policies of its search engine marketing system toward trademark useage. This meant that advertisers could now include trademarks that they don’t own in their AdWords campaigns, either for targeting or for in-ad text.
This was meant to allow advertisers to use such trademarks in certain limited circumstances, such as affiliates of a brand or sites which are reselling or discussing a product. However black and gray-market retailers often make use of trademarks without the permission of the parent brand, and they are the cause of concern for AdWords in the holiday season.
Google’s new policy requires brands to police their own advertising trademarks. If an AdWords user is reported as making inappropriate use of a trademark, then the company will investigate and possibly ban them from using its PPC service for breach of policy.
But the issue of trademark infringement is amplified during the holiday period. In a report by Clickz.com, Jermy Hull of Range Online Media said that “the fraudulent advertisers know that the legitimate marketers are swamped with holidays, and use the busy time to push out more trademark-infringing ads”.
This can have a direct impact on the costs and return of investment of a brand’s search engine marketing campaign. Firstly, the increased competition for the trademark keyword drives up bid prices. Secondly, the trademark owner may lose revenue due to another site advertising on the same keyword.
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