Google Ads is changing how it processes trademark complaints

Google will only consider trademark complaints against specific advertisers and ads starting July 24. That’s the date when Google Ads will roll out global changes to its Trademark Policy.

Google is notifying advertisers about these trademark policy changes today.

Why we care. Google said this will policy update should make resolutions faster and easier and reduce industry-wide restrictions, which can be frustrating for advertisers.  

Why the change. Under the current Google Ads Trademarks policy, all ads in an entire industry can be restricted from using trademarked material when complaints are filed. This has resulted in over-flagging and industry-wide blocks, causing major problems for advertisers.

Google hopes its new policy will reduce these issues and give advertisers more clarity and transparency. The updated policy should also help Google respond to advertisers’ trademark complaints more quickly.

What Google is saying. A Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land: 

• “To address feedback from advertisers, we are updating our Trademark Policy to focus solely on complaints against specific advertisers in order to simplify and speed up resolution times, as opposed to industry-wide blocks that were prone to over-flagging.”
• “We believe this update best protects our partners with legitimate complaints while still giving consumers the ability to discover information about new products or services.”

Timeline. Trademark restrictions implemented before July 24 under its current policy will continue to apply. Google will gradually phase out these limitations for most advertisers over the next 12-18 months.

The policy. You can see the Google Ads Trademarks policy here.