Trademark violations in Google ad's clarified

Brand names are the easiest target to get the maximum number of impressions in a PPC campaign. Its easy to get carried away and you can end up crossing the line. Here are a few things which you should know when you plan to target your competition brand visitors.


Ad Quality score: If you are bidding on a competitive brand keyword be prepared to take a hit on your ad quality score and hence be prepared to pay more for the keyword bid. However the additional cost can be offset if you have a higher conversion.

Cannot mention competitor brand in ad copy: You will have the flexibility of using brand Keywords however you cannot mention your competitor brand name in the ad copy, that will be considered as misrepresentation and your ad can be picked up for possible legal action. Ex. Coke can bid on a keyword called Pepsi however it will be incorrect to use Pepsi in its ad copy.
You can find out if competitors are using your trademarked terms in their ads by filling out this form. Google will perform an investigation which might take around 6-8 weeks and will be applicable to your trademarked terms in the ad text (excludes bid keywords) only within the United States.
If you are intrested in claiming your trademark and/or would liketo authorize a third party to use your trademarked terms, here is another form you will have to fill.

Display Urls are excluded: Google does not monitor the use of trademarks in your display Urls. so a display url which is www.walmart.com/COKE will be allowed even if they are not an authorized reseller.
There are certain exceptions to this rule such as being an authorized reseller or an informational Website. See Google's policy here