|
GOOGLE ADS TRADEMARK RULES 101
If you're a paid search marketer,
we're guessing that at some point you have found yourself reading and
re-reading Google's Advertising Policies Help page. We're also guessing you
were probably even more confused than when you started reading by the time
that you eventually closed the page...
Last month the
Brandverity Blog did an outstanding job of explaining, and showing
examples, of what is and what is not allowed according to Google's AdWords
Trademark Rules.
If you're doing paid search right
now, or you plan to in the near future, it's a must read piece!
Below is an excerpt of the article.
What's wrong
with this picture?

It depends on who you ask. This
ad likely upset Restoration Hardware. Brands tend to want to occupy position
one on branded searches. Joss & Main, on the other hand, was likely happy to
see that their strategy of bidding on a slight misspelling of Restoration
Hardware's brand name (ie. Restorationhardware), put their ad in position
one on the SERP, ahead of their competitor.
When competitors use your trademark in their Google AdWords campaigns, there
are many adverse effects including decreased CTRs and increased CPCs for
your ads as well as a poor customer experience for your customers. It's also
annoying for any digital marketer to see a competitor in the top spot on the
SERP using your trademark! Check out more in part 2 of our 4-part series on
Google Ads Trademark Rules.
But, what does Google have to say about all this? Is it even allowed?
Google does not allow competitors to use trademarked terms in the ad title
or ad copy. In the example above, if Restoration Hardware were to submit the
ad for take down, Google would have likely removed it. You can use a brand
name (or a competitor's brand name) in the display URL of your ad.
Google's rules, however, vary by geographic location and what may seem like
a slight nuance can have a significant impact. This blog post �C the second
in a four-part series �Cwill explain and show examples of what is and what is
not allowed according to Google's AdWords Trademark Rules.
Google states that they only have one global trademark policy. In 2013, they
announced, ^advertisers will need to comply with one trademark policy,
rather than several, when selecting keywords for their AdWords campaigns. ̄
Since there are many notable exceptions, and those exceptions vary by
geography, in reality, Google divides the world into three main groups and
we will talk about each one separately:
The United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and
Australia. Rather than spell out all these countries each time, when we say
^the US, ̄ we are referring to this entire group of English-speaking
countries.
The European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) regions,
referred to in this post as ^the EU. ̄
The rest of the world �C in other words, countries not covered by the two
groups above.

For ads targeting the United
States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia Google's
rules are as follows:
To continue reading the article,
please
click here.
If you have any questions/comments on the above, please email
us.
|