September 21, 2004

Rescue.com is suing Google over keyword advertising.

Google already faces similar lawsuits in France, Germany and the US.

Google’s AdWords service allows advertisers to sponsor particular search terms so that, whenever that term is searched, the advertiser’s link will appear next to the search results.

Rescuecom accuses Google of allowing and advising rival computer service companies to use its trade marked term in their list of sponsored search terms, with the result, says Rescuecom, that Google users contact and use rival firms who they think are associated with the Syracuse-based franchise.

"It's a shame that Google has to exploit an explicitly trade marked name all for the sake of a few cents per click," said David Milman, CEO of Rescuecom.

"In this way, those companies willing to pay for the most advertising search words can conceivably trample upon and utilise competitors for their own gain – it's blatant trade mark infringement," he added.

Until recently, said the firm, it had contacted rivals directly to stop the use of the trade mark, but when one competitor wrote back saying that it did not choose its keywords and that Google provided them, Rescuecom decided to sue Google.

The situation has been exacerbated by a policy change in Google’s screening program that took place in April this year, said Rescuecom.

Previously the search engine screened for trade marks when advertisers selected keywords for the service; but in April, Google announced that it would no longer pre-screen or remove keywords connected with trade marks. Google said it would only act if a trade marked term was actually used in the text of an advert.

"Google's change in policy has forced us to take legal action against it to protect our trade mark," said Edmund Gegan, lawyer for the franchise. "By hijacking our name for use in advertising search terms, Google is diluting the value of Rescuecom for its own profit and for the benefit of our competitors."

The lawsuit, filed on 6th September, seeks an injunction against the use of the term, an accounting for profits made from use of the term, and damages.

Speaking to the Central New York Business Journal, Google spokesman Steve Langdon commented: "Google’s advertising program gives consumers greater access to information, and we believe our trade mark policy complies with the law. We believe this suit is without merit and will defend against it vigorously.”

Source: Out-Law.com

        

Read Serge Thibodeau's daily blogs on search engines at Serge Thibodeau Live. We strongly suggest you bookmark our web site by clicking here.

Get your business or company listed in the Global Business Listing directory and increase your business. It takes less then 24 hours to get a premium listing in the most powerful business search engine there is. Click here to find out all about it.

Rank for $ales strongly recommends the use of WordTracker to effectively identify all your right industry keywords. Accurate identification of the right keywords and key phrases used in your industry is the first basic step in any serious search engine optimization program. Click here to start your keyword and key phrase research.

You can link to the Rank for Sales web site as much as you like. Read our section on how your company can participate in our reciprocal link exchange program and increase your rankings in all the major search engines such as Google, AltaVista, Yahoo and all the others.

Call Rank for Sales toll free from anywhere in the US or Canada:   1-800-631-3221
email:   info@rankforsales.com

| Home | SEO Tips | SEO Myths | FAQ | SEO News | Articles | Sitemap | Contact |

---

Copyright © Rank for Sales 2003    Terms of use    Privacy agreement    Legal disclaimer

       Ce site est disponible en Français