Changes To Google UK Trademark Policy May Result In Lawsuits

May 5, 2008 at 11:10am ET by Greg Sterling

In the US marketers may use competitors’ trademarks as keywords, so long as they don’t appear in the ad text itself. Previously Google used a more restrictive policy in the UK, not allowing use of competitors’ trademarks at all. Last month the company changed its UK rules to conform to the more liberal US policy.

Accordingly, UK marketers are promising to sue when the new policy is implemented. One legal expert interviewed about the change suggested that UK regulators will ultimately be compelled to step in to resolve the anticipated dispute.

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land, and writes a personal blog Screenwerk, examining the broader world of media and advertising. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet.

See more articles by Greg Sterling >

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