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Bid On Compettitor's name

by baronig
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I would like to know if we are allowed to bid on someone's business name in adwords like:

caterer john

where our own ad shows?
#bid #compettitor
  • Profile picture of the author niffybranco
    I do not know what google's rules state but i see it done all the time when i type in certain brand names into google i usually see competitors ads . One thing though if the name has been trademarked you cannot bid on it in adwords , i heard this rule was going to change but not sure when.

    In short if the name is not trademarked it is safe to bid on it.
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    • Profile picture of the author baronig
      thanks,how do we know if it's trademarked?
      it's their business name like Mik's Pizza,is registered and trademark different?
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      • Profile picture of the author CBMoneymachine
        You can bid on whatever you like. We often have a competitors ad group with all competitor brand terms in there. Just don't use the competitors name in your ad. With regards to the trademark issues - At present if a term is trademarked with Google and you try to use the term in your ad text then you will get an error telling you that the term is trademarked. However this is going to change next month I believe (might even be this month) and Google won't be monitoring this anymore. The rules will change so that you can use any term in your ad provided that you have a legitimate reason for doing so - e.g. you sell the product or you are doing a comparison. You cannot simply put up an ad that says "Don't Buy Nike Trainers Wear Addidas Instead!" From what we can gather if there are ads like these then Google will be happy to help you out in getting them removed but if it's just a trademark issue it will now be the responsibiltiy of both advertisers to sort it out between them, so you can expect a lot of bickering between advertisers to arise in the next few months! :confused:
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        • Profile picture of the author paulgl
          A question like that begs to know the reasoning behind it.

          If you have an apple-product-related website, of course.

          If you have nothing to do with caterer john, you would have no
          reason to bid on it. Your quality score would take a hit. You want
          people to click on your ad and be taken to a site that is exactly
          what they want. If people were looking for caterer john, how happy
          would the majority be if they did not find caterer john on your website?
          And what would your ad copy say? Would that be misleading?

          "Misleading and trickery" is fair game, so long as it's done in the context
          of getting people to a page they want.

          "Misleading and trickery" to get people to a page only to be getting them
          to that page would not be something one would do with adwords.

          Quotes on purpose.

          Caterer john would probably be something to not even bid on, as if
          one were searching for caterer john, all sorts of catering adwords would
          show up. Catering and the like would be what you would be bidding on.
          How many searches are there going to be for caterer john in the first place?

          Paul
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          • Profile picture of the author CBMoneymachine
            Exactly, as Paul G says you should never be bidding on a competitor term with the intention of pretending to be that site in your ad! When we make a competitor ad group we tend to keep the bids pretty low and use very similar ad text to what we use for our own brand ad groups - this prevents confusion and shows clearly who you are. It would really annoy the user to be taken to a page that was pretending to be some one else and it would do your brand reputation no good at all. My advice is to just keep the bids reasonably low - don't be trying to outbid competitors for their own brand terms because you will be fighting a losing battle, just try and get your ad in there somewhere so that if and when the user decided that the store they were looking for doesn't have what they wanted and they click the back button they can see your ad as a possible alternative to the company they were first looking for.
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    • Profile picture of the author KirkMcD
      Originally Posted by niffybranco View Post

      One thing though if the name has been trademarked you cannot bid on it in adwords , i heard this rule was going to change but not sure when.

      In short if the name is not trademarked it is safe to bid on it.

      Wrong.

      Trademark bidding is fine in most countries.
      (Regions for which Google will not investigate the use of trademarks as keywords - AdWords Help)
      You can bid on any keyword you want.

      Trademark terms may or may not be allowed in the ad text though, it depends on the trademark holder. Usually not.
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  • Profile picture of the author abarton
    So your saying if you bid on a company name like "Jenny Craig" and have an ad that says

    Denver Weight Loss Clinic
    Customized Weight Loss Programs
    Revolved Around YOUR Schedule!


    Thats a bad thing?
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    • Profile picture of the author paulgl
      Originally Posted by abarton View Post

      So your saying if you bid on a company name like "Jenny Craig" and have an ad that says

      Denver Weight Loss Clinic
      Customized Weight Loss Programs
      Revolved Around YOUR Schedule!


      Thats a bad thing?
      It's not a bad thing if it's worded like that. Your site has no connection, rhyme,
      or reason for Jenny Craig, other than weight loss. What you want to do is
      the following in title:

      You can bid on jenny craig, but you do not want your ad copy
      to make it seem as if you are in fact, jenny crag.

      Altering my answer above for caterer john, you would only bid
      on caterer john if and only if there were enough searches to
      warrant it.

      Just checked and it looks as if nutrisystem bids on jenny craig.

      So I'll change my answer to if the niche warrants it, go for it, but
      it still may drag your quality score down. If someone searches for
      jenny craig, will they click on a nutrisystem ad? Nutrisystem does
      not care about their quality score. Nutrisystem probably has a
      reputation that is unquestionable.

      Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author abarton
    sounds good paul.

    It would be more effective with a local company which is why i used it in my example, but apparently even works for large companies like nutrisystem. If someone searches "jenny craig" they may see your ad in hopes of a cheaper solution to the same problem jenny craig clients have.

    Seems reasonable, but maybe just don't spend so much on that adwords group as you would the others.
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