In today’s Mini-Episode, Amy & James are talking all things brand bidding and trademark usage in paid ads.

• Why do businesses choose to target their own brand?
• When does it make sense to do this?
• Are you allowed to use trademarks in paid ads?
• What happens when someone else uses a trademarked term?

You have questions, and they have the answers. Listen up!

Resources

Trademark rules are fairly in-depth, so we wanted to ensure you can follow-up with any remaining questions you may have.

Here is some additional info for you:

 

Trademarks

https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/6118

Google’s approach to trademarks

If a trademark owner submits a complaint to Google about the use of their trademark in AdWords text ads on the Search Network, Google will review the complaint and may enforce certain restrictions on the use of that trademark. More help for trademark owners

There are multiple factors that determine when trademarks can be used in AdWords ads. Along with the factors described below, these policies apply only when a trademark owner has submitted a valid complaint to Google.

The policies described here only apply to trademarks in AdWords text ads on the Search Network. However, Google may remove specific ads of other formats on the Google Network in response to trademark owner complaints.

Trademarks in ad text

Google will review complaints and may restrict the use of a trademark in ad text. AdWords ads using restricted trademarks in their ad text may not be allowed to run. This policy applies worldwide.

Exceptions: Here are some cases when the policy for ad text doesn’t apply in the way described above:

Ad campaigns targeting these regions may use a trademark in ad text if the ad complies with our Reseller and informational site policy.

Reseller and informational site policy

Allowed:

• The ad’s landing page is primarily dedicated to selling (or clearly facilitating the sale of) the goods or services corresponding to the trademark.
• The ad’s landing page is primarily dedicated to selling (or clearly facilitating the sale of) components, replacement parts, or compatible products or services related to the goods or services corresponding to the trademark.
• The product or services must be the primary focus of the ad’s landing page. The landing page must clearly provide a way to purchase the product or services OR display commercial information (such as rates, prices, or quotes) about the product or services.

 

Informational sites:

The primary purpose of the ad’s landing page is to provide informative details about goods or services corresponding to the trademark.

 

Not Allowed:

• The ad’s landing page isn’t primarily dedicated to selling or facilitating the sale of (i) the goods or services corresponding to the trademark or (ii) components, replacement parts, or compatible products or services related to the goods or services corresponding to the trademark.
• Ads referring to the trademark for competitive purposes.
• The ad’s landing page doesn’t provide substantive information about the goods or services corresponding to the trademark.
• The ad’s landing page requires substantial user information before providing commercial information.
• Ads that are unclear as to whether the advertiser is a reseller or informational site.

See some common questions about our Reseller and informational site policy.

 

Help for Trademark Owners:

https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/2562124

 

Trademark policy: Resellers and informational sites

https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/186124

 

Google won’t restrict the use of your trademark in AdWords text ads on the Search Network unless you submit a valid complaint, even if your trademark is registered.

 

• Owners: You can submit a trademark complaint to Google if you own rights to the trademark within a given region. We normally accept complaints from the headquarters of the registered trademark owner, the owner’s authorized agents, the owner’s legal counsel, or an agency acting as the first point of contact.
• Other entities: For any other entity to submit a complaint, the trademark owner needs to email ads-trademarks@google.com and confirm that the specific entity is “authorized to act on our behalf with respect to Google AdWords trademark matters.“ After the trademark owner sends this authorization, the entity can submit complaints and authorizations on behalf of the trademark owner. This process applies to subsidiaries, regional branches, dealerships, franchises, or any entity other than the headquarters of the registered trademark owner.
• Trademark owners don’t need to be AdWords advertisers to submit a complaint.

 

Complaint Form:

https://services.google.com/inquiry/aw_tmcomplaint

 

Authorize others to use your trademark

https://services.google.com/inquiry/aw_tmauth

 

Form to petition for review of ad you believe conforms with the Google Trademark Policy

https://support.google.com/adwords/contact/approvals?rd=1

 

For advertisers: Contact the trademark owner directly and ask that they submit an authorization form for your account. We can’t arrange authorization for you. If you don’t know who to contact, use this form and select “No” to indicate that you aren’t the trademark owner.

 

You can authorize accounts either while completing the complaint form or in a separate authorization form after we have a complaint on file.

 

We can’t accept conditional authorizations that include a time expiration or limitations on use.

The trademark owner may revoke authorization at any time by emailing ads-trademarks@google.com.

 

“Customer ID” and “Authorized entities:”

• If your complaint is against “only specific advertisers,” you don’t need to complete this section, as your complaint will only be reviewed in relation to the advertisers you have identified.
• If your complaint is against “all advertisers,” provide a complete list of all AdWords customer IDs or URLs that are authorized to use your trademark. Advertisers whose accounts aren’t submitted for authorization, including the trademark owner, may have ads disapproved and stopped from running. If you have any licensees, dealerships, authorized resellers, advertising partnerships, or regional branches that you would like to authorize, provide a list of their customer IDs or URLs to ensure that their ads are not affected by the investigation.

 

Trademarks as keywords
Google won’t investigate or restrict the selection of trademarks as keywords, even if we receive a trademark complaint.

 

List of affected regions

• Australia
• Canada
• Ireland
• New Zealand
• United Kingdom
• United States

Google is continuously making improvements to ads quality as part of our ongoing efforts to improve users’ and advertisers’ experience with our ad products. We have made a change to the Ad Rank thresholds for search ads on Google.com that may have impacted your ad metrics.  

The Ad Rank thresholds are adjusted along a number of dimensions, such as country, device and position, in order to ensure we place an appropriate weight on quality as well as advertiser bid and value. For example, the thresholds for ads above the search results are higher than the thresholds for ads below the search results in order to reflect the importance of a high quality user experience and the value of this advertising space.

While ad quality continues to play a very important role in the Ad Rank calculation, this particular improvement adjusts the thresholds such that bids may carry a larger weight in Ad Rank than in the past for some queries. You may notice that on these queries, even though you continue to have high keyword Quality Scores, that you experience a change in your core ad metrics.

As always, you can increase the likelihood of receiving an impression and improve your position on the page by improving your ad quality, or raising your Max CPC bids. Keep in mind, average CPCs may fluctuate, so it is important to set the appropriate Max CPC bids to ensure that you are never paying more than what you are willing to pay and value a click at.

 

 

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