4 ms·

There was a time when Google disallowed this. Google even asked us (Firefox team) to report ads squatting on our trademarks. Eventually they stopped caring and

There was a time when Google disallowed this. Google even asked us (Firefox team) to report ads squatting on our trademarks. Eventually they stopped caring and now it's in their ad sales pitchdeck just how effective trademark squatting can be.

thrtythreeforty 1y ago
Can you in principle sue people buying these ads for trademark infringement? (I realize in practice the answer is that it's not worth the game of whack-a-mole.)
- remus 1y ago
  Where is the trademark infringement? It's like honda buying an advert outside a VW dealership.
  - _superlevure_ 1y ago
    No, it's like searching for the location of a VW dealership on your phone and Google Maps taking you to an Honda one instead.
    - thehappypm 1y ago
      No, it’s more like a billboard saying, “looking for a Honda? ᶠᵒʳᵈˢ ᵃʳᵉ ᵇᵉᵗᵗᵉʳ ᵃⁿᵈ ʸᵒᵘ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵍᵉᵗ ᵗʰᵉᵐ here!
  - stetrain 1y ago
    The trademark infringement is when their ad includes someone else's trademark. Look at the screenshot in this post. All four of the ads at the top of the search results include the trademarked name "Midjourney" in the title of the ad. This is more like putting up a giant sign outside of your Honda dealership saying "Best deals on new VWs!" but when you pull in they don't sell VWs, they sell their own competing products.
    - dakial1 1y ago
      Some players circumvent this by creating "blog posts" where they compare/about multiple tools. Like it is a fair use but in reality is an ad in disguise.
      - johanyc 1y ago
        Oh right. thats quite common! Pretty sneaky if you ask me
  - joquarky 1y ago
    No, this is more like Honda putting a portal in front of the main door of the VW dealership that transports people into their showroom instead.
Marsymars 1y ago
I feel like there’s at least some country in the world where the legal regime would be amenable to ruling against Google if they were taken to court over trademark squatting by the trademark holders.
- WhyNotHugo 1y ago
  In Argentina it is illegal (since the nineties) to mention other brands. So a Coca Cola ad cannot reference Pepsi. Laundry detergents can not make references to other brands, so they say “better than other generic brands” without names or hinting any in particular. I suppose the exact wording is important here, but this practice sound dangerously close to violating this restriction.
  - int_19h 1y ago
    "other generic brands" is pretty standard ad verbiage in all countries AFAIK. Even when there's no specific law, if you mention another brand by name, you open yourself up to a defamation lawsuit.
    - Marsymars 1y ago
      I had the parent comment, not the one you're directly replying to... but that actually seems a bit odd to me. Clearly if you're not an advertiser, you can call out brands by name for having junky products (e.g. "The Worst Air Purifier We’ve Ever Tested" by Wirecutter on the Molekule air purifier). Similarly clearly, if you're an advertiser, you'll fall afoul of laws around false advertising if you tell non-truths in ads. I expect that the reason Honeywell or Coway aren't punching down on Molekule in their ads isn't that they're afraid of lawsuits more than the Wirecutter, it's simply that their ads are meant to build their own brand awareness so they don't want to name any other brands.
Palmik 1y ago
This is not allowed and the advertisers are on borrowed time: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6118?hl=en https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6118?hl=en You can bid on competitor's keywords, but not use their trademarked name in the copy, especially not in a deliberately confusing way. But I don't think Google moderates this very proactively.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

thrtythreeforty 1y ago

Can you in principle sue people buying these ads for trademark infringement? (I realize in practice the answer is that it's not worth the game of whack-a-mole.)

remus 1y ago
Where is the trademark infringement? It's like honda buying an advert outside a VW dealership.
- _superlevure_ 1y ago
  No, it's like searching for the location of a VW dealership on your phone and Google Maps taking you to an Honda one instead.
  - thehappypm 1y ago
    No, it’s more like a billboard saying, “looking for a Honda? ᶠᵒʳᵈˢ ᵃʳᵉ ᵇᵉᵗᵗᵉʳ ᵃⁿᵈ ʸᵒᵘ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵍᵉᵗ ᵗʰᵉᵐ here!
- stetrain 1y ago
  The trademark infringement is when their ad includes someone else's trademark. Look at the screenshot in this post. All four of the ads at the top of the search results include the trademarked name "Midjourney" in the title of the ad. This is more like putting up a giant sign outside of your Honda dealership saying "Best deals on new VWs!" but when you pull in they don't sell VWs, they sell their own competing products.
  - dakial1 1y ago
    Some players circumvent this by creating "blog posts" where they compare/about multiple tools. Like it is a fair use but in reality is an ad in disguise.
    - johanyc 1y ago
      Oh right. thats quite common! Pretty sneaky if you ask me
- joquarky 1y ago
  No, this is more like Honda putting a portal in front of the main door of the VW dealership that transports people into their showroom instead.

Marsymars 1y ago

I feel like there’s at least some country in the world where the legal regime would be amenable to ruling against Google if they were taken to court over trademark squatting by the trademark holders.

WhyNotHugo 1y ago
In Argentina it is illegal (since the nineties) to mention other brands. So a Coca Cola ad cannot reference Pepsi. Laundry detergents can not make references to other brands, so they say “better than other generic brands” without names or hinting any in particular. I suppose the exact wording is important here, but this practice sound dangerously close to violating this restriction.
- int_19h 1y ago
  "other generic brands" is pretty standard ad verbiage in all countries AFAIK. Even when there's no specific law, if you mention another brand by name, you open yourself up to a defamation lawsuit.
  - Marsymars 1y ago
    I had the parent comment, not the one you're directly replying to... but that actually seems a bit odd to me. Clearly if you're not an advertiser, you can call out brands by name for having junky products (e.g. "The Worst Air Purifier We’ve Ever Tested" by Wirecutter on the Molekule air purifier). Similarly clearly, if you're an advertiser, you'll fall afoul of laws around false advertising if you tell non-truths in ads. I expect that the reason Honeywell or Coway aren't punching down on Molekule in their ads isn't that they're afraid of lawsuits more than the Wirecutter, it's simply that their ads are meant to build their own brand awareness so they don't want to name any other brands.

Palmik 1y ago

This is not allowed and the advertisers are on borrowed time: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6118?hl=en https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6118?hl=en You can bid on competitor's keywords, but not use their trademarked name in the copy, especially not in a deliberately confusing way. But I don't think Google moderates this very proactively.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]