Google Adwords is changing their trademark policy to enable Adwords advertisers to bid on brand and trademark terms. In the same way as advertisers in the US, the new rules will allow keyword bidding on trademark keywords, however, will not allow advertisers to use the trademarked terms in the ad text.

When will the new policy start?

The new policy will begin on May 5th 2008, meaning any keywords that were disabled as a result of a trademark investigation will no longer be restricted in the UK and Ireland. This means that any keywords you may have previously had disabled as a result of the trademark policy, may begin triggering your ads in the UK and Ireland from this date.

Will Google respond to any trademark complaints?

Prior to the change, trademark holders could appeal to Google about ads that were being driven by their brand, and have them removed. As of the 4th of April Google stopped reviewing any complaints relating to trademark terms being the trigger of ads. However, for users aware of advertisers using trademarks in text ads, Google will continue to perform an investigation.

How does the policy change affect me?

For trademark holders the revised policy means adwords advertisers will now be able to use keywords relating to your trademark to trigger their ads in the UK and Ireland. However, they will not be able to use your trademark in their text ads.

For adwords advertisers it means users can now use trademark terms as keywords to trigger their ads.

If you're a client of ours we will ensure any ads triggered by trademark terms from the 5th May are managed to ensure the best possible ROI. If you are eager to add any keywords to your account, that were previously trademarked, get in touch with your account manager to discuss your goals.

Follow these links for additional information on the trademark policy revision and how to file a trademark complaint.