ACCC loses misleading ads case against Google via the Sydney Morning Herald reports the ACCC, Australian Competition and Consumers Commission, has lost their has in an Australian Federal court against Google.

The watchdog group sued Google over deceptive ads back in 2007. The federal judge, Justice John Nicholas dismissed the case saying the Google was not liable for advertisers using competitors’ names and trademarks in their ads.

You can read the full court document over here.

A Google spokeswoman said, “Our guiding principle has always been that advertising should benefit both advertisers and users, and our aim is to ensure that ads are relevant and useful.” You can read the ACCC’s response to the ruling over here.

Related Stories:

• Australian Watchdog Sues Google Over Deceptive Search Ads
• Australian Watchdog Has Day In Court Over Google “Selling Top Spot”

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Google: Legal | Google: Outside US | Legal: Trademarks

About The Author: Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here. For more background information on Barry, see his full bio over here. See more articles by Barry Schwartz

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