Google now encourages trademark infringement, so long as you’re paying them.
Starting June 4, marketers in about 200 countries will be allowed to purchase rival trademarks as keywords to trigger display of “sponsored search” ads on Google. Honda, for instance, could bid to have one of its ads displayed when a consumer searches the term “Toyota.”
Maybe Google is feeling the financial crunch and needs to increase their revenue. Maybe they just felt like giving their lawyers some extra work. Whatever their motivations may be, you can be certain that they are going to create a lot of dissent among advertisers; especially those who have worked long and hard to build a successful brand. No doubt, the scavengers of the Internet marketing world will gleefully jump on this “opportunity” but I think it won’t be too long before the onslaught of lawsuits forces Google to change their minds.
Do you think this is fair/legal? Do you think it will affect your company?
