Google Israel Ltd. today announced that it was amending its trademark policy, and that it will stop arbitrating complaints on the use of trademarks as keywords for advertisements presented to users in Israel. Google Israel is following the lead of Google units in other countries, such as the UK, US, and Canada, which already apply this policy.
The new policy will come into effect in a month.
Until now, commercial companies could prevent competitors from buying keywords based on their trademarks. For example, Pelephone Communications Ltd. could prevent its competitors, Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) and Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR), from buying text ads on the basis of Pelephone's trademark. This meant that a user who typed "Pelephone" as a keyword obtained only results related to the company, and could not see advertisements of its competitors.
The new Google Israel policy means that Cellcom, for example, can buy advertising on the basis of the keyword "Pelephone". This means that advertisements for Cellcom will appear alongside the search results of a user who typed in the keyword "Pelephone".
The policy change will not apply to the advertisements themselves. Brands may not use competitors' trademarks in the wording of advertisements, but may only buy advertising on the basis of the keyword.
The significance of the policy change is at two levels. For end-users, it will mean more search results, enabling users to obtain results they hadn’t considered, thereby improving the surfing experience and widening their choices.
For advertisers, the policy change is more significant, because it increases competition between companies in the same sector. It also helps small businesses obtain a presence in Google's search engine, which could boost the returns on their ad campaigns.
Google Israel VP media and telecom Eyal Chen said, "Google aims to present users with the broadest and most relevant information, both for search results and on advertising platforms. With this measure, we're offering users a broader selection that will enable them to make better choices."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 4, 2009
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