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> Nobody owns the word "Amazon" Good luck calling your next venture Amazon then. What this shows is that Amazon now effectively owns the word Amazon, strippi

by axlee 7y ago

> Nobody owns the word "Amazon" Good luck calling your next venture Amazon then. What this shows is that Amazon now effectively owns the word Amazon, stripping countries where the largest river in the world flows, of the rightful use of the term.

meddlepal 7y ago
I'm also guessing those countries don't speak English and "Amazon" is localized as something else.
commandersaki 7y ago
I'm sure Amazon the company protects its trademark well.
travisoneill1 7y ago
Wouldn't need good luck. Do a search for "Amazon" here and you will see why not: https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/Ecorp/EntitySearch/NameSearch.aspx https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/Ecorp/EntitySearch/NameSearch...
- Doctor_Fegg 7y ago
  I'm not sure why you think global naming rights issue forth from the second smallest state in the United States of America.
  - fastball 7y ago
    ?? The point of the GP is that there are many companies called "Amazon" or some variation thereof, registered in Delaware alone. Clearly AMZN does not own the word "Amazon".
Mountain_Skies 7y ago
It's a bit disturbing that all major search engines show results for the company Apple before the fruit apple. Not even talking about ads. A search for "apple" comes up with a tech company, not the food. Seems a bit perverse especially for searches performed by those too young to have known a time when apple the fruit had a stronger association with the name than Apple the corporation.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  This is a major problem with search today. It's not however a problem with the size or power of Apple. It can just as well happen with some random thing that nobody is politically concerned with. In general, when I search for something that could be ambiguous (and everything is) I want a sample of each possible cluster or meaning. But today, Google (and others follow their lead) is determined to give you the answer, and also certain that nobody reads beyond the first few hits. It's not helpful to say "give right results and not wrong ones" because a fanatical devotion to that "idea" is what got us into a dysfunctional situation.
- travisoneill1 7y ago
  Why should a search engine decide which of these is more important rather than what the user is more likely searching form?
- saalweachter 7y ago
  If it makes you feel any better, [apples] is still predominantly about the fruit. (I mean, ads still show the computer, but I'm assuming no one is doing brand-building ads online for the fruit.)
- andrewzah 7y ago
  I believe search engines are in the business of showing what people want to see, not making decisions for us. (Insert remarks about google here) 99% of the time when I search "apple", I do, in fact, want searches related to the company. Now that I think about it, I've never searched for apple (as in the fruit) casually.
- Mike8435 7y ago
  It's really silly for you to be offended by something as objective as the PageRank algorithm, which is essentially how search results are ranked. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank
fastball 7y ago
> What this shows is that Amazon now effectively owns the word Amazon, stripping countries where the largest river in the world flows, of the rightful use of the term. It absolutely does not. Nobody is going to stop calling the Amazon Rainforest or the Amazon River the Amazon. Nobody is going to prevent the countries who have the Amazon within their borders from promoting the Amazon abroad. The only thing that changes is, well, nothing. Because the countries involved clearly had no intention to apply for the .amazon gTLD until AMZN did. So they lose nothing.

by axlee 7y ago

meddlepal 7y ago

I'm also guessing those countries don't speak English and "Amazon" is localized as something else.

commandersaki 7y ago

I'm sure Amazon the company protects its trademark well.

travisoneill1 7y ago

Wouldn't need good luck. Do a search for "Amazon" here and you will see why not: https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/Ecorp/EntitySearch/NameSearch.aspx https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/Ecorp/EntitySearch/NameSearch...

Doctor_Fegg 7y ago
I'm not sure why you think global naming rights issue forth from the second smallest state in the United States of America.
- fastball 7y ago
  ?? The point of the GP is that there are many companies called "Amazon" or some variation thereof, registered in Delaware alone. Clearly AMZN does not own the word "Amazon".

Mountain_Skies 7y ago

It's a bit disturbing that all major search engines show results for the company Apple before the fruit apple. Not even talking about ads. A search for "apple" comes up with a tech company, not the food. Seems a bit perverse especially for searches performed by those too young to have known a time when apple the fruit had a stronger association with the name than Apple the corporation.

perl4ever 7y ago
This is a major problem with search today. It's not however a problem with the size or power of Apple. It can just as well happen with some random thing that nobody is politically concerned with. In general, when I search for something that could be ambiguous (and everything is) I want a sample of each possible cluster or meaning. But today, Google (and others follow their lead) is determined to give you the answer, and also certain that nobody reads beyond the first few hits. It's not helpful to say "give right results and not wrong ones" because a fanatical devotion to that "idea" is what got us into a dysfunctional situation.
travisoneill1 7y ago
Why should a search engine decide which of these is more important rather than what the user is more likely searching form?
saalweachter 7y ago
If it makes you feel any better, [apples] is still predominantly about the fruit. (I mean, ads still show the computer, but I'm assuming no one is doing brand-building ads online for the fruit.)
andrewzah 7y ago
I believe search engines are in the business of showing what people want to see, not making decisions for us. (Insert remarks about google here) 99% of the time when I search "apple", I do, in fact, want searches related to the company. Now that I think about it, I've never searched for apple (as in the fruit) casually.
Mike8435 7y ago
It's really silly for you to be offended by something as objective as the PageRank algorithm, which is essentially how search results are ranked. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank

fastball 7y ago

> What this shows is that Amazon now effectively owns the word Amazon, stripping countries where the largest river in the world flows, of the rightful use of the term. It absolutely does not. Nobody is going to stop calling the Amazon Rainforest or the Amazon River the Amazon. Nobody is going to prevent the countries who have the Amazon within their borders from promoting the Amazon abroad. The only thing that changes is, well, nothing. Because the countries involved clearly had no intention to apply for the .amazon gTLD until AMZN did. So they lose nothing.