Google lets advertisers buy rivals' trade marks as keywords in 194 countries | OUT-LAW.COM

• Google lets advertisers buy rivals' trade marks as keywords in 194 countries | OUT-LAW.COM

  tags: keywords, trade marks
  

  • UPDATED: Google has increased by 190 the number of countries in which advertisers will be able to pay for their ads to appear when a rival's trade mark is typed into its search engine. That policy previously only applied in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland.

     

    Google will still investigate the use of trade marked terms to trigger adverts in every EU member state apart from the UK and Ireland, and in some other countries including China, New Zealand and Australia.

    Google's search engine shows the natural results of a search, which cannot be changed. Beside these, the company displays adverts triggered by whatever terms were searched for. Companies pay for the right to display their ads alongside results for specified terms, known as keywords.