Trademark Laws & Technology Gone Too Far

Jun 29, 2005 - 11:09 am 0 by
Filed Under Google Ads

A thread at Search Engine Watch forums named Pathetic Trademark Laws discusses a case where someone was not able to use the word 'target' in ones title of the ad. For example, the advertiser wanted to say "Reach your target audience today".

The issue here, at least the popular thought, is that Target is a popular brand. So Target asked Google to put the word "target" on some sort of blacklist. The advertiser is automatically not allowed to submit the ad with that word in the copy. The advertiser will have to ask Google for an exception.

Has Google gone too far with this? Can you blame Google or the trademark lawyers? Or is this just the game that must be played? A whole new discussion.

 

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: July 17, 2026

Jul 17, 2026 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google 7/11 Update, Bing Penalties, Google Images, AI Overviews AI Images, Google Ads Updates, ChatGPT Ads Features & Apple Maps

Jul 17, 2026 - 8:01 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Making Broader Smart Bidding Updates? Google Says No.

Jul 17, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Maps

Did Google Maps Turn Off OpenTable Reservations?

Jul 17, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Renamed NotebookLM Useragent To Google-GeminiNotebook

Jul 17, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google StoreBot Accessibility Issues Help Document Updated

Jul 17, 2026 - 7:21 am
 
Previous Story: BIW Search Parameter Added to Google