Google plans to sell trademarked keywords to rivals
Posted by Manuela Barreto @ May 13th, 2009 in Search Engine Marketing
Can we say Google is headed into dark waters? I guess we will only find out come June 4th.
After kicking some controversy in the US and Europe, Google has now decided to go global with an advertising strategy that, according to Business Week, will allow advertisers in about 200 countries to purchase rival trademarked keywords to trigger display of sponsored search ads on Google.
On one hand, trademark owners whose brands will be used as keywords will not be too happy with this new policy and will most likely sue the search giant..yeah, googd luck on that. Google’s spokesman Ben Novick has expressed that following a global legal review, [Google has] made the changes in countries whose legal and business practices are consistent with making the change, meaning- it’s all 100% legit.
In continuation to my previous comment, such move from Google will mostly upset top tier brands who have been established in the market for years who will do anything to prevent any newcomer from piggy-backing on their brand name to send the message across to the consumer.
On the other hand, let’s be honest, if a consumer is looking for brand A and gets information on brand B, it doesn’t necessarily mean the consumer will change his mind about product A. Instead, the consumer will continue searching until he lands on product A’s website.
However, one downside to this new policy could be if the consumer is unsure or confused about his search and any tidy bit of stimulation will get him to switch products.
For example, if the consumer is looking for product A, but gets a discount ad regarding product B, the outcome is quite obvious. Who doesn’t like discounts? But then again, this could be an easy way for consumers to run product comparisons to help them in their decision. And is definitely one aspect marketers can take advantage of when working on their Adwords campaigns and deciding on the right message to consumers.
As a marketer, how are you preparing for this new policy? Do you think it’s fairplay? Share your thoughts with us!
Last 5 posts in Search Engine Marketing
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