Adwords Updating Trademark Policy in UK and Ireland

Google is updating its Adwords trademark policy in UK and Ireland that will allow any relevant ads from any advertisers to be triggered by trademarked keywords, which previously was forbidden. This new policy will be effective by 5 May 2008.

For Adwords advertisers with text ads targeting the UK and Ireland, keywords that were disabled for trademark investigation may begin triggering their ads.

However, trademark policy within ad texts will be unchanged. Though all advertisers’ ads will be allowed to appear on sponsored links for their competitors’ branded / trademarked keywords, Google will allow only trademark owners to have their trademarked brand names appear on ads. For instance,

Say “Expedia” is considered a trademark. The owner can use “Expedia” as a keyword, and can include it in the ad text. Other advertisers are allowed to use “Expedia” as a keyword, but are forbidden from using it within ad text.

The downside for trademark owners certainly is that they may face more competitions on their branded keywords. Keyword prices may be deliberately pushed up by their competitors. Bidding on keywords that are of your competitor’s brand can have negative effects on quality score, and you may require professional PPC ad copy writing to complement.

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