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Posted in Advert Copy, Google AdWords on 21st April 2008 by Tim Barlow
Just to clear up some confusion over the recently announced changes to Google’s trademark policy in the UK.
- What has changed: What Google will enforce in the UK and Ireland
- What hasn’t changed: Trademark Law
Just because Google has softened its policy does not mean that advertisers should jump into advertising on third party trademark terms without thought. Care still needs to be taken to consider the law (in particular those relating to trademark infringements and passing off).
What Google is now giving you the opportunity to do, can be likened to the chance to put up a sign near your competitor’s shop. A lawyer is likely to tell you that doing so is perfectly legal. (See this case for some supporting evidence of this)
Where you need to take more care is in what you write on that sign. For example it is probably OK to claim to be an alternative to a competitor but unacceptable to claim to be identical to a named competitor.
The same rules are likely to apply to the writing of your text adverts on Google: Legally acceptable to bid on the phrase, not acceptable to attempt to trick people into believing you are the same company.
The other consideration is your brand values some may prefer to keep their brand free of any potential negative associations that may come with bidding on someone elses name.
Posted in Attacat on 21st April 2008 by Tim Barlow
I’ve been rather slow on adding our traditional welcome blog posts for our latest new starts. I am however very excited to welcome Eamon and Eoin to the account management team, both of whom birng a new depth of web experience to Attacat.
Sadly Sarah has moved on but we wish her the best of luck in her new role.
Posted in Google AdWords, Speaking Engagements on 21st April 2008 by Tim Barlow
I am going to be doing another Intro to AdWords seminar for the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce on the 29th May. Details and booking on the chamber’s site .
Posted in on 11th April 2008 by Ben Rogers
The new trademark regulations from Google, due to be implemented on May 5th 2008, will no longer have the same restrictions that we have enjoyed (or endured, depending on perspective!) with trademarks in the UK & Ireland. This change in policy brings the UK & Ireland into line with the policy in US & Canada where bidding on trademark terms is now commonplace.
Basically anyone will now be able to advertise to searchers using trademarked terms as a keyword. Restrictions to trademark terms in advert text will remain the same and will still be restricted by Google (as long as this exception was requested when making a trademark request).
This change could lead to competitors outbidding you on your own brand search terms and will require closer monitoring of brand terms along with tweaks to your brand adverts to ensure that you are seen first by the searcher and clicked on. Overall we predict a rise in the cost per click of trademarked brand searches.
Should I bother trade marking with Google anymore?
Google will continue to block advertisers using trademarked terms in their advert copy. This will ensure that someone appearing under the fictional brand OnlineShop as a keyword cannot say Cheaper than OnlineShop! in their advert text.
Additionally as the competitor cannot use your trademark terms they will have lower Quality Score than you. This will lead to them having to pay more than you for the same position which will help keep you at the top of the listings.
Are there any benefits?
Google claims that the new policy will provide more relevant results for searchers. The cynics among us will suggest that it may provide more revenue for Google by pushing up the price of brand advertising! For the smaller company this may provide the opportunity to piggyback a larger competitors brand presence and advertise under their trademarked terms.
All Attacat clients can rest assured that their dedicated Account Manager will be monitoring the impact of these changes on your account. If you have any concerns or questions please contact your Account Manger directly.
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Further Reading:
Google – AdWords Trademark Policy Revision (UK and Ireland)
Posted in on 7th April 2008 by Ben Rogers
When using Google for search they attempt to personalize your search experience. Sometimes this can lead to your own adverts being shown lower than expected when searching using Google.co.uk. This can happen because you dont click on your own adverts but may click on competitor adverts Google will then see your adverts as less relevant to you as you have never clicked on them. Another reason for not using Google.co.uk is that you can inflate the number of impressions for your own keywords which can reduce the account Quality Score.
To combat this issue a tool has been developed that will show the true non-biased results. This tool is available at:
https://adwords.google.com/select/AdTargetingPreviewTool
You can use this tool to search across different Google domains and regions – this can be very useful if your adverts show only in certain areas of the country.
To use the tool you can type your search into either the box towards the top of the page (in the grey area) or the more standard search box at the top of preview page. It is worth noting that the results rendered in the sponsored links cannot be clicked on.
The results shown using the tool should be trusted rather than a simple search on Google.co.uk (due to the personalized search facility). Another point of note is that your advert may fluctuate in position during any given search especially in very competitive markets so it can be prudent to run the preview tool a couple of times to get a true picture of your actual position.
As always please feel free to contact your dedicated Attacat Account Manager if you have any questions about the use of the tool.
See also: Google Advert Preview Tool help article
Posted in Google AdWords on 7th March 2008 by Tim Barlow
We have speculated in the past that the speed with which your site loads was potentially a factor in your Google AdWords quality score. Experienced advertisers will be familiar with the fact that your quality score directly impacts what you pay for each click from Google.
In a refreshingly open and seemingly well managed move by Google, they have announced that load time will definitely be added as a factor in your quality scores over the next month or two.
The surprise of this announcement is not that they are going to be adding it as a factor but much more that they are:
- Actually telling us they are doing it
- Going to be telling us exactly when they are going to do it
- Going to tell us (or at least provide an indication) of how we rate against this factor in advance to give us a chance to make any changes required.
Thank you Google, its genuinely appreciated.
The move makes sense as well, with Google’s continued efforts to incentives advertisers to provide a good experience for searchers.
We will be in touch with all our clients on this issue as soon as we get the details of how your sites are fairing.
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