ACS Creative

In mid-May 2009, Google relaxed its U.S. trademark policy and began letting resellers, review sites and sellers of compatible, complementary or replacement products include trademarked terms in ad text even if they don't own the trademark or have the owner’s approval to use it. Now, six months later, ACS Creative wants to know whether you’ve taken advantage of this policy change and, if so, how is it working for you?

What Was Then
Prior to the policy change, Google let companies other than the trademark-holder bid on trademarked terms (e.g., VAIO), but only the trademark owner (e.g., Sony or a Sony-authorized company) could use the term in the text of AdWords ads. So, for example, lots of companies that sold or serviced Sony VAIO laptops were out of luck: They might secure ad placement on the keyword “sony vaio laptops” but were forced to deliver a vague ad, something along the lines of


Needless to say, searchers looking for Sony VAIO laptops would most likely click on the most specific and relevant ad—one that mentioned “Sony VAIO.” Trademark-holders benefitted in two ways:

• Their ads stood out because they (and authorized companies) were the only advertisers who could use the brand name in their AdWords ads
• Click-through rates stayed generally low due to limited competition

What Is Now
Now, a reseller who advertises via AdWords can create specific ads for each of the brands that they sell—under certain conditions. Google believes this change helps both searchers and advertisers by reducing the number of overly generic ads that appear across its networks in the U.S.

Criteria. In the U.S., Google permits use of a trademark in ad text under the following circumstances:

• Ads that use the term in a descriptive or generic way (e.g., Apple, if you sell the fruit)
• Ads that use the trademark in a nominative manner to refer to the trademark or its owner, specifically—
  • Resale of trademarked goods or services: The advertiser's site must sell (or clearly facilitate the sale of) the goods or services corresponding to the trademarked term. The ad’s landing page must clearly demonstrate that a user can purchase the trademarked goods or services from the advertiser.
  • Sale of components, replacement parts or compatible products corresponding to a trademark: The advertiser’s site must sell (or clearly facilitate the sale of) the components, replacement parts or compatible products relating to the goods or services of the trademark. The advertiser’s landing page must clearly demonstrate that a user is able to purchase the components, parts or compatible products from the advertiser.
  • Informational sites: Third-party providers of non-competitive and informative details about the goods or services corresponding to the trademarked term can use the term in ads. Such an advertiser may not sell or facilitate the sale of goods or services of a trademark owner’s competitor.

Google reviews ads that use trademarked terms plus their landing pages before the ads appear on Google search results pages (maybe a one-week delay). Finally, Google still prohibits competitors, counterfitters and critics from using trademarked terms to their advantage.

Results. The Google ad landscape has definitely changed since the policy shift—where you once found just an ad or two mentioning a brand name, now you're likely to see a brand-name search term appearing in most ads. For example, a recent Google search on “sony vaio laptops” produced the following PPC ads (top and right-column Sponsored Links):



Sony’s ad (Sony VAIO® Official Site) still holds the top position, but every ad in the right column contains the branded terms (Sony, VAIO, Sony VAIO) either in the ad’s headline or text (or both).

Who Wins? Who Loses?
In theory at least, trademark owners; searchers; resellers; sellers of compatible, complementary or replacement products and third-party information sites all seem to win in this situation:

• Trademark owners maintain a top ad position because of their superior Quality Score
• Searchers get relevant ads from more vendors
• Resellers, service providers and sellers of compatible/complementary/replacement parts can present more specific, compelling ads and better compete for ad positions
• Informational sites can market focused knowledge and recommendations

But, what’s actually taking place in practice? That’s what we want to know. ACS Creative invites you to share your experience with Google’s "looser" U.S. trademark policy for AdWords:

• Have you noticed any increased click-through rates (CTRs) for your ads?
• Has your conversion rate changed?
• Are you spending more money on your PPC ads because you have to bid higher (i.e., there's more competition) for the same terms you used before?
• Is your ROI increasing or decreasing for your AdWords campaigns?

Please share your comments directly in this post or email me at mattc@acscreative.com. Look forward to hearing from you!