Bing and Yahoo: Changing their Tune on Trademarked Keywords
Posted by Jamila Hunte on Thu, Mar 17, 2011
Brand owners, are you still frustrated that Google permits third parties, even your competitors, to bid and use your trademarked name as keywords? Your frustration may have been eased a little knowing that there is a process in place to dispute the use of your mark for keywords which is pretty reliable in having your concerns addressed and resolved, and at least you only have to worry about Google, right? Well not anymore…
As you may or may not know, in July 2009 Bing and Yahoo joined forces and have decided to amend their policy on the use of trademarked keywords in ads. Bing and Yahoo had made it a practice to do their own investigation into advertisements for trademark infringement, but as of March 3, 2011 (only applicable to keyword, triggered ads on Bing and Yahoo in Canada and the US right now) they are opting out of the business of policing advertisements. It is now up to trademark owners to do their own investigation and report it to Microsoft (who own Bing) using their online Intellectual Property Complaints Form. On their site, it mentions that they are not a mediator and encourages trademark owners to contact the advertiser directly if they believe that their marks are being misused.
According to Microsoft, the policy change will put them “in line with industry standards”. A recent article, suggests that the incentive for this change of heart may be due to how hard Google has fought and won decisions in court with regards to these types of issues.
What does this mean for brand owners? It means that third parties, yes even your competitors, can bid on your trademarked name as a keyword. You can no longer request the exclusive use of your trademark keywords or control of how ads appear during a user’s search.
Even though it may feel like all your rights have been taken away, do not fear. Bing and Yahoo will remove ads that abuse your trademark, which will be determined by their Advertising Counterfeit and Advertising Copyright Policies via their Intellectual Property Complaints form.
Bottom line: No longer will the onus be on search engines to investigate the actions of third parties. Brand owners must be proactive in monitoring their brands online and can be assisted through services like BrandProtect’s Paid Placement Protection. Your trademark rights must be defended and enforced which will only help to protect your valuable brand online.