If you manage Google Adwords account for your company or client, you probably have run into this problem where you see your company/client’ brand being used by competitors to steal marketshare from Google search queries.
Not many people know this but Google Adwords provides a mechanism where companies can prevent their competition from even bidding on their brand terms. Say for example Widget Company has competitors Widget1 and Widget2 who are bidding on Widget company and running ads for Widget Company. Google Adwords provides a mechanism that Widget Company can use to prevent Widget1 and Widget2 from running ads. While Google treads the trademark violation policy cautiously it is important to understand that some regions don’t necessarily back the trademark violation polcies and so Google cannot enforce it throughout the world.
The first thing to do is to file a trademark violation report on Google Adwords that can be found here . Make sure to have your trademark owner document before filing it out. You will also require the Application No. and Registration No. Once you fill out the form and send it to Google, Google usually takes a few weeks to investigate the trademark complaint and revert back to you with any questions or the status of the complaint. If you are curious to see the scope of their investigation, visit their article in the help center that details Google’s investigation methods for different countries. Of particular interest is the fact that the Google team differentiates between flagging ads that use the trademark and keywords that use the trademark, which (if you are in a particular country) can still allow your competitors from bidding on your keyword.
If you need help filing a trademark report with Google Adwords or have any question about Adwords, feel free to leave a comment below.
Image Credit: Google Adwords
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