American Airlines Sues Google Over Keyword Advertisements

Aug 24, 2007 - 8:15 am 7 by
Filed Under Google Ads

Last week, ComputerWorld reports that Google has been sued by American Airlines because the airline is seeking to stop its competitors from bidding on its trademark in Google.

Their argument is,

"Without authorization or approval from American Airlines, Google has sold to third parties the 'right' to use the trademarks and service marks of American Airlines or words, phrases, or terms confusingly similar to those marks as 'keyword' triggers that cause paid advertisements, which Google calls 'Sponsored Links' to appear alongside the 'natural results," the lawsuit said.

This isn't the first lawsuit against Google for trademarked terms.

WebmasterWorld members believe that the suit is baseless.

Their "trademarked search term" could also be considered generic. Kind of like when people are lookimg for american (based) airlines, french airlines, engilsh airlines, etc.

That's a good point.

But others are not rooting for Google.

I hope they win. How would like you competitors bidding on your company name. We don't.

History has been on Google's side before. Can they win again?

What do you think about this? Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 17, 2026

Jun 17, 2026 - 10:00 am
Bing SEO

Bing Webmaster Tools AI Reporting Adds Intents, Topics, Citation Share & Compare

Jun 17, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Updates

Google Search Ranking Volatility Continues Into This Week

Jun 17, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google News

CMA: Google Must Share How Search Results Are Ranked & Data Portability

Jun 17, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Updates Its Campaign Status Interface

Jun 17, 2026 - 7:21 am
Google Ads

Google Ads New Security Tasks Summary Tab

Jun 17, 2026 - 7:11 am
 
Previous Story: Microsoft Promises Webmasters a Live Search Portal