Nowadays it is no longer possible to do without Online Advertising .
This is true for all business realities, whether they are large companies or SMEs . It is true for those who have an e-commerce, but also for those who have a physical store. It is true for those who sell products, as well as for those who sell services.
Google Ads is one of the most important tools for advertising online, because it offers different types of campaigns to reach your target and your web marketing goals.
Managing and optimizing Google Ads campaigns is a complex operation, because it requires considerable knowledge of the tool.
It is essential to target the ad in the most correct way possible , so that they hit the mark, whether they are campaigns on the Display Network, but especially those on the Search Network.
Every company, every advertiser, would like their message to reach the screen of their ideal customer.
From here the question arises spontaneously:
But what if I were to intercept customers who are looking for the competition? Is it legal to use someone else's brand as "Keyword"?
But first, let's take a step back.
You may have heard the term K eyword in relation to web search, whether in terms of paid search or organic search.
Let's get into specifics: advertisers select and indicate to the Google Ads Platform the Keywords to connect to the ad, which will be shown to those who search for them.
Based on their Web Marketing objectives, advertisers tend to use as Keywords words frequently searched on search engines, in the orbit of the product or service they propose on the market.
However, sometimes advertisers use trademarks registered by other companies as keywords .
Is this a legal or illegal practice?
Keywords in Ads: Using Other People's Brands
Each case must be addressed in a detailed and analytical manner.
It is necessary to immediately clarify the possible liability of the search engine , that is, of the person who, by offering a positioning service, in any case allows advertisers to use other people's trademarks as keywords.
The European Court of Justice has in fact exempted Google from liability for any potential unfair competition.
This is because it simply stores the proposed keyword and organizes the display of ads.
The situation is different for the person who creates the ads: the advertiser.
The Court ruled that the use of another's trademark as a keyword in the context of referencing services is not in itself unlawful.
According to the Court's interpretation, the use of another's trademark as a keyword is prohibited in the presence of certain conditions, such as:
Violation of the trademark's function of indicating the origin.
Generating confusion about the origin of the sponsored products and services. In particular, the use is unlawful when it does not allow, or only allows with difficulty, to know whether the products or services to which the advertisement refers come from the owner of the trademark or not.
Violation of the investment function of the trademark.
By hindering its use to acquire or maintain a reputation capable of attracting consumers and making them loyal.
Violation of the advertising function of the trademark.
Precisely with regard to the advertising function, the Court recalls that advertising on the Internet based on keywords corresponding to trademarks has the sole purpose of proposing to Internet users alternatives to the products or services of the owners of said trademarks, considering that this practice encourages competition.
What does violating these rules entail?
The use of a third party's trademark as a keyword may be the basis for convictions, representing an offence similar to the crime of counterfeiting.
Specifically, it should be remembered that each case is evaluated individually and has its own history.
Violation of these rules entails the payment of a fine , a reimbursement that represents the objective damage for the variations in clicks and costs received.
In Conclusion
Having reached the end of this blog post, I can only ask you if you have ever created Campaigns with Google Ads asking yourself this question, and if the answer is no, how useful this blog post has been to better understand the world of Keywords associated with Brands.
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