Adwords: are certain keywords protected by companies

Google is for an open internet, including what
you are proposing. One reason why you see
ads for amazon when doing searches for brand names.
Amazon probably buys a ton, as well as having some
special deal that creates an ad on the fly for tons
of terms. Yes, I am talking about having nike in the
ad.

Just did a search for nike shoes online, and found
ads using "nike" from:
nike, finishline, zappos, eastbay, nordstrom, macys,
and a plethora of others. Seems to be a very
popular term. Yes, they all used nike in the ad.

Now will google let the little guy do this? I have seen
no cases where they won't. This holds true for the
United States. Google may prohibit this in some
countries or regions, due to local law.

In fact, bidding on a competitor's brand is quite common.

Case in point, just did a search for ford cars, got a dodge
ad. The dodge ad did not have ford in the ad, however, but
a carmax ad did have ford in it.

Google in the past, due to their open internet policy, has
made it clear they are not the internet police. Any disputes
among ads and website owners are to be settled between the
two. No, this is not always the case. They do have ways
of blocking advertisers using trademarks. Probably falls
under some logic. If you have a shoe store that sells nike's
in a legit way, no reason for you not to be able to use nike.

Check the shoe store ads in newspapers and sporting goods
stores. Same thing.

I can only assume that if you are not actually selling shoes, or
have no logical reason to use nike, then they may have a problem.

Paul

Hi TimShi,

Yes, it is called trademark law.

Trademark laws vary from country to country. In some locations you can place sponsored listings on trademarked terms if you are reselling those items, you just cannot use those trademarked terms in your ad text if they have filed a trademark complaint with AdWords.

Thanks Paul and Don! Currently reviewing over trademarks and how they work with Adwords, it's all very interesting.