GoDaddy doesn't like our AdSense Keywords and Budget

[Banned User]

http://www.nationhosts.com/godaddy/

Thats a copy of a e-mail I received today from GoDaddy and I must say its sad to see that when someone else steps up with the same money pockets as them at Adwords they get angry.

In anycase I hardly think use of their registered trademark in a keyword for adwords constitutes as infringement and we are prepared to fight such in court.

 

[PolurNET]

What the hell... that's pretty lame of them... but I guess they're saying to remove your adword keyword, which is according to them, exclusively theirs. Make sure of that first, if google doesn't allow you to advertise on trademarked keywords, if they don't then I guess you'll have a tougher battle

Cheers

 

[jroy]

so, their saying you cant put ads up for buying domains on your web site?

 

[armstrong]

I've seen this done before, and people are of two minds regarding your approach. On one hand, I don't think its illegal to advertise on your competitor's name (major brands do it once in a while). On the other hand, its not a very nice way to play ball.

However, like it or not, google will probably disallow your keyword if GD complains to them. Its happened many times before.

 

[Sharpy]

I guess speedfox.com and instaspace.com are getting the same letters. I should put one up for my wwd reseller site and see what happens.

 

[showcase]

Hello,

I just typed in godaddy in the google browser. Your ad comes up in the ad links on the right side of the page. What causes your company ad to appear as a result of entering the words godaddy? Is that what you are buying when you purchase an ad from google? Are you requesting your as to appear when people type in godaddy?

If that is the case, what do the words godaddy have to do with the name, service or product that your site offers?

So is GoDaddy.com saying that you are using their name to drive traffic to your site?

I haven't had an dealings with Google Ads, that's why I am asking.

Regards,

Showcase

 

[Sharpy]

So is GoDaddy.com saying that you are using their name to drive traffic to your site?

That's right and that's true, Ben is using the term "godaddy" to cause his ad to appear on search result pages when the searcher is obviously looking for domain services, by typing "GoDaddy" into Google. Godaddy.com do not seem to like this. The legal question is do they have a right to stop Ben from doing it.


When you set up a campaign for a site or product, you enter keywords that are tied to your ad. If you chose godaddy as a keyword, your ad would show up on the right side of a results page for any search with the word godaddy in it. Where and on what page depends on how much you are willing to pay(bid) per click.

 

[showcase]

That's right and that's true, Ben is using the term "godaddy" to cause his ad to appear on search result pages when the searcher is obviously looking for domain services, by typing "GoDaddy" into Google. Godaddy.com do not seem to like this. The legal question is do they have a right to stop Ben from doing it.


When you set up a campaign for a site or product, you enter keywords that are tied to your ad. If you chose godaddy as a keyword, your ad would show up on the right side of a results page for any search with the word godaddy in it. Where and on what page depends on how much you are willing to pay(bid) per click.

Hello,

Did you use the key words "godaddy" hoping that you would pick up some traffic for your website on the coat-tails of GoDaddy.com? I am only asking because most everyone knows that GoDaddy.com is one of the Top Registrars only because of their advertising and reputation. The fact is that the key words "godaddy" have no word relevance to domain registration other than the reputation that GoDaddy.com has.

It is an interesting issue because once the page comes up the key words "godaddy" do not appear to the public in your ad. I will have to go back to the Google page to see if the term godaddy appears in any other links on the page where in the link isnot promoting GoDaddy.com It that is the case I would think you are in good position. I wonder if GoDaddy.com has complained to Google?

Cheers,

Showcase

 

[Banned User]

I replied and suggested they contact Google also and demand that google block the keyword because surely if Google felt it was infringing on GoDaddy they would ban they keyword since essentially GoDaddy syndicates the advertisements and stores the "GoDaddy" keyword preference in their databases.

I also suggested they have their legal department contact me next time and not a Advertising Dept Supervisor.

 

[Mels]

http://www.imageheaven.net/files/9-16-2004/other.PNG

I suppose they have contacted yahoo too

 

[Jeff]

Google Adwords "TOS" (for informational purposes):
https://adwords.google.com/select/tsandcsfinder

I went ahead and entered "godaddy" at Google and got all of the same results as you folks above ... personally, I wouldn't do it as it just doesn't feel right IMHO. No doubt, both the other two received same (though both appear to be "web hosting" more than domain name registrations/services). You may wish to contact either / both and see where they stand on the matter (if, in fact, they did receive similar notice(s)), as well. If I was in charge of GoDaddy, I'd send the matter on over to my Legal Dept. / Counsel, IMHO.

But I ain't no attorney, neither.
:wave:

 

[Banned User]

I would also imagine if you use the broad keyword option on Adwords you could essentially.... set they broad keyword Go To Daddy and it would also pull up ads for that keyword when Go Daddy was typed in since it allows any combinations of said phrase.

They are just jealous because they thought they were the highest paying advertisers for Domain Registration ads which is not the case

 

[Jeff]

Wonder what's under the "Sponsored Links" at Google ... when, for instance, "enom" is typed in as the search term? :blink:
How about "registerfly"? "dotster"? :talk:

:notme:

Could go to intent, pattern IMHO.
All the best.
:wave:

 

[Sharpy]

I would also imagine if you use the broad keyword option on Adwords you could essentially.... set they broad keyword Go To Daddy and it would also pull up ads for that keyword when Go Daddy was typed in since it allows any combinations of said phrase.

If your ad's keyword prase was, go to daddy, the searcher would have to type in go daddy for that to work, as your ad is looking for any search with the words go & daddy in it, not godaddy.

They are just jealous because they thought they were the highest paying advertisers for Domain Registration ads which is not the case

Well actually they still are as your ad is under theirs. I really doubt that GoDaddy is jealous of many registrars hehe

 

[Banned User]

The question is do they enjoy the fact that I snagged a Realtor as a customer today who used to be a godaddy customer and the Realtor registered $1776.45 worth of domains names today.

Today has been hectic.

 

[wlspro]

First I would not brag publicly about "snagging" customers from Godaddy through your paid ads based on a search of their registered trademark. It will only encourage Godaddy to file a suit against you to recover damages based on your stated monetary gains. They are known for their aggressive legal actions and would have a very strong case against you for damages based on your own statements.

Second I would suggest that you look at Google's policies more carefully. Specifically read about their Trademark Complaint Procedure at http://www.google.com/tm_complaint.html.

Finally while you may think you are the smartest person around for inventing this scheme you should think why this is not done in other more obvious instances. You may already have been rejected for similar ads with "Network Solutions" as the keyword - Google will only show NSI sponsored links for this keyword.

Take a look at other famous trademarks and you will see no sponsored links on the right hand column by any competitors (ford, volvo, nike). Others have obviously demanded that Google stop ANY sponsored links and Google has complied (gm, vw, google, ebay, nbc, msn). Despite 169 million results you cannot find any sponsored links for a search of “sex”. Do you think advertisers forgot about this word? I would suggest it was removed based on trademark complaints.

FYI you are not the only person making such improper use of registered trademarks of your competitors. AmericanSingles uses Lavalife, OfficeMax uses “office depot“, Alibris uses Borders and yes Simplehost and several others use eNom. One email by any of these and the sponsored links will be removed by Google.

So as a practical matter Google will pull your ads shortly after Godaddy files a complaint with them. From a legal standpoint making a commercial gain based solely on a competitors trademark rights is improper. And as an ethical matter selling your product B when a customer is specifically looking for product A is questionable at best.

 

[Scorpio]

Why would u you godaddy keyword for your domain registration..
Its only to take benefit of their name and what else can be the reason...

I see your website does not come up now when seached for godaddy.. Google has got a nice policy for copyright and trademark..

:kickass:

 

[theparrot]

http://news.com.com/Geico+gets+green+light+to+sue+Google,+Overture/2100-1024_3-5345484.html

 

[Banned User]

First I would not brag publicly about "snagging" customers from Godaddy through your paid ads based on a search of their registered trademark. It will only encourage Godaddy to file a suit against you to recover damages based on your stated monetary gains. They are known for their aggressive legal actions and would have a very strong case against you for damages based on your own statements.

Second I would suggest that you look at Google's policies more carefully. Specifically read about their Trademark Complaint Procedure at http://www.google.com/tm_complaint.html.

Finally while you may think you are the smartest person around for inventing this scheme you should think why this is not done in other more obvious instances. You may already have been rejected for similar ads with "Network Solutions" as the keyword - Google will only show NSI sponsored links for this keyword.

Take a look at other famous trademarks and you will see no sponsored links on the right hand column by any competitors (ford, volvo, nike). Others have obviously demanded that Google stop ANY sponsored links and Google has complied (gm, vw, google, ebay, nbc, msn). Despite 169 million results you cannot find any sponsored links for a search of “sex”. Do you think advertisers forgot about this word? I would suggest it was removed based on trademark complaints.

FYI you are not the only person making such improper use of registered trademarks of your competitors. AmericanSingles uses Lavalife, OfficeMax uses “office depot“, Alibris uses Borders and yes Simplehost and several others use eNom. One email by any of these and the sponsored links will be removed by Google.

So as a practical matter Google will pull your ads shortly after Godaddy files a complaint with them. From a legal standpoint making a commercial gain based solely on a competitors trademark rights is improper. And as an ethical matter selling your product B when a customer is specifically looking for product A is questionable at best.

GoDaddy is actually really relaxed when it comes to litigation according to a quick search on LexisNexis.com they have had very few court cases. I will publicly post regarding any matter I wish to post about publicly. You also cant conclude so easily that those are competitors using trademarked words.

Example: AmericanSingles uses Lavalife .... Or they could just use "Lava of Life" and make the keyword a broad keyword that way any combination or use of just one of those words could easily be triggered by typing in Lavalife on google. Google has suggested a lot of trademarked keywords... I usually just copy and paste their lists and don’t look them over I guess from here on out Ill better review their suggestions.

The reason it doesn't come up is because quite frankly the keyword is weak and produced one click over the last two weeks believe it or not.

In fact the keyword also has weak impressions...

My position on use of the keywords is that it does not infringe on their trademark in accordance with existing Federal Trademark law and International Trademark Convention. Furthermore... I have contacted Google Adwords and will be in touch with GoDaddy tomorrow... I suspended use of the keyword and from my discussions with people who have received similar demands I found that there results were being told by Adwords that such usage does not constitute TM Infringement according to their legal counsel as submission of such a keyword to Adwords is a private transaction between you and Adwords and they facilitate the ad and targeting. In any case they could have the word blocked if they were to take proper steps although I have chosen to retire the keyword to avoid hassle and due to lack of results from it.

My reason initially for using it? Adwords Keyword Tool Recommended it as I just copy paste lists they make for me.

 

[Sharpy]

Forget screw'n around with GD. Just plug in "car domains" [car domains] if ya want a great keyword combo for domain services. Its got a results to searches ratio of 2 and it has 0(ZERO) google ad campaigns associated with it.

 

[Banned User]

Forget screw'n around with GD. Just plug in "car domains" [car domains] if ya want a great keyword combo for domain services. Its got a results to searches ratio of 2 and it has 0(ZERO) google ad campaigns associated with it.

I think my keywords are fine... got almost 2k keywords for domain reg ad alone... and heh Adwords thinks we should spend $3,630.00 per day on the campaign (Crazy)

 

[aww]

The ability to bid on trademarked words is being tested in court in various countries.

I do not believe anyone in the USA has won such a case yet. I vaguely remember a case about people who make "blinds" having the same issue as GoDaddy, a trademarked words of theirs was being used to target ads. They lost?

This is a typical C&D letter with all bark but no bite. I wouldn't worry about it, Google can turn to "Safe Harbor" laws if they want to, and obviously they have chosen not to for now (as they would lose alot of revenue).

By the way it seems other people have started bidding on the GoDaddy word as well so you have company. Remember the golden rule of C&D letters - DO NOT REPLY. Nothing you say can help you if you are not a trained attorney and it can only be used against you if it goes to court.

 

[Banned User]

The ability to bid on trademarked words is being tested in court in various countries.

I do not believe anyone in the USA has won such a case yet. I vaguely remember a case about people who make "blinds" having the same issue as GoDaddy, a trademarked words of theirs was being used to target ads. They lost?

This is a typical C&D letter with all bark but no bite. I wouldn't worry about it, Google can turn to "Safe Harbor" laws if they want to, and obviously they have chosen not to for now (as they would lose alot of revenue).

By the way it seems other people have started bidding on the GoDaddy word as well so you have company. Remember the golden rule of C&D letters - DO NOT REPLY. Nothing you say can help you if you are not a trained attorney and it can only be used against you if it goes to court.

I didnt manually add it anyways it was suggested by the keyword tool in a huge list but in anycase I am hardly worried about GoDaddy now nor if they even did pursue legal action I would be more than glad to defend my belief of the matter.

And like you said currently there has been no Precadent set that would proove or conclude that use of a wordmark in a encrypted algorithm is infringing. Googles position is that it is not infringing and I feel that the use of the keyword is minimal and due to it being encrypted as such and that if the wordmark is not being used in bad faith that it is not infringing. What a lot of you fail to realize is just because someone has a trademark does not entitle them to protect their wordmark everywhere due to the fact the majority of trademark legislation was wrote many years before the idea of the internet was even born.

So the courts and regulating orgs leave it to WIPO and Federal Court to interpret the old law and to make a conclusion to its application to each and every case.

Although what GoDaddy fails to understand that they way Adwords works currently could also allow me to add a keyword like "Go To Daddy" and set it as broad and when they do their little google checks by typing in GoDaddy they would still see my ad and would assume I am using the keyword GoDaddy.

They also fail to understand that if they were to go to court they would need the data from google which apparently they store in a secure hash which would prevent anyone from even knowing what keywords I am in fact using.

 

[Darkfire001]

Well, I doubt google has any legal standing to FORCE Google to take down the ads, but I bet google will take them down nonetheless.

 

[wlspro]

Well, I doubt google has any legal standing to FORCE Google to take down the ads, but I bet google will take them down nonetheless.

You mean Godaddy has standing? Of course Godaddy has standing to force Google to take down such ads. The court has already ruled to that effect. See link previously posted on this same thread titled "Geico gets green light to sue Google, Overture" for the very same issue.

"Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia delivered a blow to the two Internet search giants in their efforts to defend ad sales of trademarks as fair use.

"We find that plaintiffs have alleged facts sufficient to support their claims that advertisers make a 'trademark use' of Geico's marks and that defendants may be liable for such trademark use," the ruling stated.

Geico sued Google and Overture in May, saying that use of its trademarks when selling advertising in search engines constituted trademark infringement and raised various state law causes of action.

Google had argued that it only uses trademarks in "internal computer algorithms to determine which ads to show," according to the ruling.

"This decision represents a serious defeat for Google and may open the floodgates to new litigation challenging Google's selling of trademarks as keyword triggers for advertising," said Terence Ross, a partner at law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher"

http://news.com.com/Geico+gets+green+light+to+sue+Google,+Overture/2100-1024_3-5345484.html

Also note the related case of Playboy vs Netscape (settled in January 2004) in which "Netscape settled a 5-year-old lawsuit brought by Playboy Enterprises, a week after a federal appeals court ruled that the Web company could be held liable for the unauthorized use of trademarks in search engine ads."

http://news.com.com/Netscape,+Playboy+settle+search+trademark+case/2100-1024_3-5146502.html?tag=nl

FYI Netscape has removed all ads from search results of Playboy and Google has removed all such links for the search of Geico.