Marketing trends

Google to let your competitors use your brand names!

In May 2008, Google made a revision to its AdWords Trademark Policy resulting in your competitors now being able to use trademarks registered in the UK and Ireland as keyword triggers for their AdWords campaigns. Additionally, keywords that were disabled as a result of a trademark complaint/investigation will no longer be restricted in the UK and Ireland.

This is a two-edged sword for businesses as competitors' offers will now be able to appear adjacent to search results for your products and brands but you'll also be able to advertise adjacent to theirs. For smaller businesses the opportunity could well out-weigh the threat as you'll be able to target your AdWord campaigns to appear in highly relevant searches.

There's a number of options to consider in order to protect traffic from your brand names but at the very least regularly Google them to see what your competitors are up to. Other options include paying for sponsored links in Google that appear at the top of the search results and running your own AdWord campaigns for your brand names.