zetetic
08-13-2004, 12:36 PM
With the TM vs. Search issue still going hot & heavy, I wanted to get some reactions from the group about an idea I floated at SES San Jose.
Right now, if you're a TM/brand owner who wants to ensure that your TMs aren't being used improperly in search advertising, you're pretty much don't have any tools beyond those of the average searcher. You have to run a wide variety of searches & see if any advertisers are misusing your marks.
This effort is, of course, made more complicated by the advent of local search, dayparting, and bid budgeting. And yet, the search engines' stance in their litigation with American Blind, GEICO, and others is that it is the TM owners' sole responsibility to monitor & notify advertisers when they are improperly using a 3rd party's TM.
So all that said, why don't the engines/ad networks create a new tool that allows for searches AGAINST THE PAID LISTINGS ONLY? Combine this with a Google Alert-type feature, and I, as a TM owner, now have a simple way to be notified anytime an advertiser uses my TM or any variant as:
- a keyword trigger
- a title
- a part of the content in the ad
It would be up to the TM owner then to contact advertisers it feels are crossing the line--the engines would no longer be in the middle of a manual, TM tug-of war.
Obviously, this wouldn't settle the TM issue from a legal perspective. It would, however, be consistent with the engines' current legal position--and it would go a long way to demonstrate to the engines' brand-conscious advertisers that they have their interests at heart as well.
Thoughts?
Right now, if you're a TM/brand owner who wants to ensure that your TMs aren't being used improperly in search advertising, you're pretty much don't have any tools beyond those of the average searcher. You have to run a wide variety of searches & see if any advertisers are misusing your marks.
This effort is, of course, made more complicated by the advent of local search, dayparting, and bid budgeting. And yet, the search engines' stance in their litigation with American Blind, GEICO, and others is that it is the TM owners' sole responsibility to monitor & notify advertisers when they are improperly using a 3rd party's TM.
So all that said, why don't the engines/ad networks create a new tool that allows for searches AGAINST THE PAID LISTINGS ONLY? Combine this with a Google Alert-type feature, and I, as a TM owner, now have a simple way to be notified anytime an advertiser uses my TM or any variant as:
- a keyword trigger
- a title
- a part of the content in the ad
It would be up to the TM owner then to contact advertisers it feels are crossing the line--the engines would no longer be in the middle of a manual, TM tug-of war.
Obviously, this wouldn't settle the TM issue from a legal perspective. It would, however, be consistent with the engines' current legal position--and it would go a long way to demonstrate to the engines' brand-conscious advertisers that they have their interests at heart as well.
Thoughts?