Using Nike as an example it's really just a judgement call on their part. If the next top bidder is a Nike retailer, they lose nothing if they don't bid on the

Using Nike as an example it's really just a judgement call on their part. If the next top bidder is a Nike retailer, they lose nothing if they don't bid on the term. But they do it anyway, their call. Of course there are examples where a company does stand to lose if they don't bid on their own name, and that sucks, but what's the solution? Give companies free top position on their name? How many variations of their name? Do they get related phrases too? What about when (as with Nike) the word can mean other things? What about when there are multiple claims on the same name? Does Nike the shoe company get a free spot over an educational page about Nike the goddess? And so on... It's not an easy problem to solve, whereas letting companies choose what they want to bid on is simple.