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Ok so, I understand that this is a much debated topic, and really there isn’t a black and white solution, however I am still willing to throw in the question: Who are the lucky ducks that trademarked ‘home’ on Google?

I thought the company who trademarked ‘attention’ were lucky….

Yeah, I am trying to be funny here, but that’s the only way to look at it when you are making an ad for home loans and you receive this:

Trademarked Term [?]
Due to trademark reasons, we do not allow advertisers to use ‘home’ in their Google AdWords ads. This term may be trademarked either for a certain product or service category and may apply only in certain countries.
Request an exception

Oh yeah, I know we’re all familiar with it, but on such a broad term?

What do you even request as an exception? “Yes, I would like to request an exception because I am simply trying to describe a person’s residence, and not a product or a service.” What?

Yeah, yeah, I know my ad is probably already out of pending, but its the principle. My company name is trademarked and yet weekly, a new company is bidding on it but here I am jumping through a hoop to just include the term ‘home’ in my ad…..

Google’s official word on trademarks is:

Google is not in a position to arbitrate trademark disputes between the advertisers and trademark owners. As stated in our Terms and Conditions, the advertisers themselves are responsible for the keywords and ad content that they choose to use. Accordingly, we encourage trademark owners to resolve their disputes directly with the advertisers, particularly because the advertisers may have similar advertisements on other sites.

As a courtesy to trademark owners, however, we are willing to perform a limited investigation of reasonable complaints. Our procedure differs depending on the country in which trademark rights exist.

This explains why I have to contact my account manager in order to stop a competitor from bidding on my company name when I come across them, however, does ‘home’ really justify a ‘reasonable complaint’?

Ok, I think I’ve taken this as far as it will go….

• 20.10.08: Campbeltown Airport and the US Space Shuttle