Yesterday, the NY Times reported Google settled a case in France where Google would have to change some of their AdWords policies in France.
In short, NavX sued Google for suspending their AdWords ads. It turned out that Google thought the product they sold was illegal, but it wasn't. So Google updated their policies for advertising for that product in France, plus agreed to give 3-month notice to some advertisers on some ads, in France-only, before canceling or suspending an ad or advertiser.
When I covered the story yesterday, the article was a bit misleading. It made it sound like Google will be changing their policies globally, but I was unsure. The NavX lawyer said "this is a monumental event, because the French competition authority got Google to modify its contractual rules on a worldwide basis." But no, Google told me they are absolutely not changing their policies anywhere else but in France.
Google told me:
The FCA has said that software showing the location of speed cameras and radar detectors is legal in France, clarifying what was previously a gray area. We have revised our ads policy for these products, which has helped resolve the NavX complaint. At the same time, the FCA has recognized Google’s right to set clear content policies that guarantee ads are appropriate. In its decision to close this case, the FCA made no finding of dominance or monopoly abuse.This agreement and the commitments we have made are very narrow. They deal only with ads for traffic devices in France. Nothing else. That said, we are always looking for ways to improve our AdWords services for the benefit of users and advertisers.
Sorry guys!
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
