Google Ads - use competitors names
Discussion
Ask BMW. They were caught hiding competitors names in their website code so if you googled “Mercedes” BMW would be the top hit. Google “banned” them for a period of time meaning that if you searched for BMW they would come up on the 3rd page of results.
This generated the concept of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) jobs.
This generated the concept of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) jobs.
Not unless you want a long and expensive legal case.
Victoria Plumbing redirected Victoria Plum in Google adwords, both large and successful online plumbing retailers, and landed themselves a £1.7m fine.
Not worth the risk, because it’s easily spotted, especially by your (there) competitors.
https://www.fieldfisher.com/en/services/intellectu...
Victoria Plumbing redirected Victoria Plum in Google adwords, both large and successful online plumbing retailers, and landed themselves a £1.7m fine.
Not worth the risk, because it’s easily spotted, especially by your (there) competitors.
https://www.fieldfisher.com/en/services/intellectu...
Edited by Ham_and_Jam on Thursday 30th July 20:01
Personally I’d concentrate on building your own brand and protecting that.
I pay for Google Adwords for my own brand name even though it’s page 1 on organic search
I do this to stop others taking the piss
I’d not heard of those legal cases before, food for thought....where there’s blame, there’s a claim 😀
I pay for Google Adwords for my own brand name even though it’s page 1 on organic search
I do this to stop others taking the piss
I’d not heard of those legal cases before, food for thought....where there’s blame, there’s a claim 😀
Google will allow you to use trademarks owned by others as keywords, but not in the actual Ad text. If you do use others trademarks as keywords make sure you don't use dynamic insertion of the search phrase in the Ad text.
In the case of Victorian Plumbing the issue was more around exacerbating the existing confusion between the brands rather than the use of their trademark as a keyword.
"The case reiterates that keyword advertising is not objectionable per se, but that infringement will hinge on the transparency of the advertisement. Here, the similarity between the trade mark and the Defendant's name rendered it exceedingly difficult to ensure the origin function was not adversely affected by the use and that consumers were not confused."
That said, it's clearly a grey area so tread carefully!
In the case of Victorian Plumbing the issue was more around exacerbating the existing confusion between the brands rather than the use of their trademark as a keyword.
"The case reiterates that keyword advertising is not objectionable per se, but that infringement will hinge on the transparency of the advertisement. Here, the similarity between the trade mark and the Defendant's name rendered it exceedingly difficult to ensure the origin function was not adversely affected by the use and that consumers were not confused."
That said, it's clearly a grey area so tread carefully!
wheelerc said:
Google will allow you to use trademarks owned by others as keywords, but not in the actual Ad text. If you do use others trademarks as keywords make sure you don't use dynamic insertion of the search phrase in the Ad text.
In the case of Victorian Plumbing the issue was more around exacerbating the existing confusion between the brands rather than the use of their trademark as a keyword.
"The case reiterates that keyword advertising is not objectionable per se, but that infringement will hinge on the transparency of the advertisement. Here, the similarity between the trade mark and the Defendant's name rendered it exceedingly difficult to ensure the origin function was not adversely affected by the use and that consumers were not confused."
That said, it's clearly a grey area so tread carefully!
This is the correct answer. One most dodgy competitor used our brand name in the advert title. We complained to Google and sent a cease and desist letter. So they did. However they still target us in their key words.In the case of Victorian Plumbing the issue was more around exacerbating the existing confusion between the brands rather than the use of their trademark as a keyword.
"The case reiterates that keyword advertising is not objectionable per se, but that infringement will hinge on the transparency of the advertisement. Here, the similarity between the trade mark and the Defendant's name rendered it exceedingly difficult to ensure the origin function was not adversely affected by the use and that consumers were not confused."
That said, it's clearly a grey area so tread carefully!
In fact they targeted all the competitors’ brand names. Amateurish stupid crooked idiots.
As above, there is no problem advertising on a competitor's brand name as a keyword. It is just common sense that you would (it would be illogical not to in most cases).
I think some on the thread are confusing the keyword (the search term that triggers the as to appear) and the as text (what the person searching sees when they click submit).
You can't use others' trademarks without permission in your ads and you shouldn't try to fool searchers into thinking you are somebody you are not.
I think some on the thread are confusing the keyword (the search term that triggers the as to appear) and the as text (what the person searching sees when they click submit).
You can't use others' trademarks without permission in your ads and you shouldn't try to fool searchers into thinking you are somebody you are not.
Thanks all, I am not looking to pretend I am someone else, I want to build my brand absolutely.
The question was using competitors names in my google ad words, so I appear when searching, not using competitions names in my google ad so I appear to be them.
I want to be AmericanAudioCo through and through, but I also want to be the go-to name for American Audio.
V.
The question was using competitors names in my google ad words, so I appear when searching, not using competitions names in my google ad so I appear to be them.
I want to be AmericanAudioCo through and through, but I also want to be the go-to name for American Audio.
V.
If you want to pinch traffic from rivals but don't want to be obvious about it and want to avoid a war, then there's a targeting option within Google Ads called Custom Intent Audiences. You can show display ads to people based on the keywords they've recently used for searches, and the domains they've recently visited. Chuck in the names of your rivals and their URLs and your banner/video/text ads will show to those people as they surf the web.
h0b0 said:
Ask BMW. They were caught hiding competitors names in their website code so if you googled “Mercedes” BMW would be the top hit. Google “banned” them for a period of time meaning that if you searched for BMW they would come up on the 3rd page of results.
This generated the concept of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) jobs.
That must've been like 20 years ago, Google is smarter than that now.This generated the concept of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) jobs.
Dick Dastardly said:
If you want to pinch traffic from rivals but don't want to be obvious about it and want to avoid a war, then there's a targeting option within Google Ads called Custom Intent Audiences. You can show display ads to people based on the keywords they've recently used for searches, and the domains they've recently visited. Chuck in the names of your rivals and their URLs and your banner/video/text ads will show to those people as they surf the web.
Thanks DD, that’s perfect info.V.
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