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Microsoft Adcenter takes a stance on Trademark Terms and Bidding

Posted on August 30, 2007 in Affiliate Information, MSN Search, PPC  

To my surprise and delight I got an email from MSN adcenter today concerning bidding and using trademark terms. (cough Google… I hope your listening) The stance from my point of view is in favor of publishers and puts the responsibility where it is back on the trademark owners and not using the Search engines to police their trademark for them. The Official email:

Microsoft adCenter is changing the way we manage our trademark policy starting September 10, 2007. While no change will be made to the trademark policy itself, this update aligns better with marketplace practices, speeds up editorial review to get your ads live faster, and ensures consumers see relevant ads.

Microsoft adCenter’s Trademark Policy

As stated above, we are not changing the trademark policy itself. You may still use trademarked terms
in your ads  when you, as the advertiser, are the owner of the trademark, an affiliate or reseller of trademarked products or services, or a site that uses the trademarked term in an informational,
descriptive, or non-competitive manner. Infringing use of trademark terms by direct competitors remains a violation of Microsoft adCenter policies. 

What’s changing?

It will now be the advertiser’s responsibility to obtain permission from the trademark owner to use a trademarked term in their ads. It will also be the trademark owner’s responsibility to address ongoing
incorrect usage of their trademark term(s) directly with third-party advertisers.  Microsoft adCenter will no longer intercede to obtain permission for the advertiser wanting to use a trademarked term. 

What does this mean for my search advertising?

Your ads may display next to other ads that contain your trademarked terms.
Affiliates, resellers, and third parties may show up against queries for your trademarked terms.
Competitor’s ads may show up in search results against queries for trademarks in certain scenarios, due to match types other than exact.

For example, if a generic term is included in the overall search query, advertisers who bid on the generic term may show up in the search results.

If you are a trademark owner and you believe your trademark is being misused in Microsoft adCenter, you can submit a report by following the instructions on our Trademark Concern Form.

Sounds like good news for publishers/affiliates when it comes to bidding on trademark terms. While I agree using trademark terms without persmission is bad but there is no reason that for instance a Target ad shouldn’t show up when someone is searching for Wal-mart.



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Comments

3 Responses to “Microsoft Adcenter takes a stance on Trademark Terms and Bidding”

  1. YearnToEarn on August 30th, 2007 3:02 pm

    I just got this email also. Sounds like good news for us publishers!

  2. Mike Mothner on September 6th, 2007 11:32 am

    This is certainly good news for affiliate sites. The fact that “Microsoft adCenter will no longer intercede to obtain permission for the advertiser wanting to use a trademarked term” will make affiliate advertising much easier. Although some may be concerned that trademark use will be misused, I don’t think that this will turn into an issue, nor will trademark owners continually need to be submitting forms regarding misuse. I think this is a good move by Microsoft Adwords.

  3. Brad on September 17th, 2007 7:57 pm

    Maybe I should have read that email!

    Nothing chapped me off more than getting a notification that half my keywords weren’t used because they were “trademarks”.

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