On 5 May 2008 Google changed a critical element of its paid listings policy in the UK & Ireland to allow companies to bid for keyword searches of other brand names.
The change was hugely controversial and triggered anger between travel companies, and against Google itself.
Travolution covered the story from the very beginning.
Google keyword switch to cost big travel brands 'millions' - 8 April 08Travel brands mull informal pacts to battle trademark shift - 18 April 08Lastminute.com considers legal position over Google trademark move - 6 May 08Teletext threatens rivals over trademark bidding - 9 May 08Policy change is legally sound - Google - 13 May 08Costs soar for brand bidding companies - 20 May 08Teletext in legal move against Directline over trademarks on Google - 21 May 08Travel brands unite with other retailers in legal threat against Google - 23 May 08ABTA confirms existence of Google action group - 23 May 08Google action group split over legal bid - 30 May 08Google bosses attempt to head off trademark legal threat - 13 June 08Take a natural approach - 25 June 08Online marketing - Can brands find a place on the web? - 25 June 08Google trademark lawsuit threat subsides - 22 August 2008
Blog posts by Travolution
Google is not feeling da lurve right now - 21 April 08Travolution Summit - That pesky trademark issue - 24 April 08Travolution Summit - McCaig in full flow - 24 April 08A Declaration from Cheapflights - 30 April 08And so it begings - brand bidding on Google - 07 May 08First official legal threat in travel over trademark bidding - 18 May 08If you're looking for trouble, you've come to the wrong place - 20 May 08Brand bidding drama is fair to some, an abomination to others - 22 May 08
Other relevant articles
The cost to brand owners, and the law - Out-Law.com 7 April 08Affect on advertisers - Internet Advertising Bureau 6 April 08'Disappointing' policy change - ISBA 16 April 08Impact on affiliates - Affiliate Marketing Blog 7 April 08The French Connection - Musings on travel e-commerce 23 May 08Impact on brands (includes video) - iCrossing Blog 10 April 08Trademark Turf Wars - report - iCrossing 5 May 08Google faces legal action by top brands - TheLawyer.com 2 June 2008Google search ads rile its big customers - Wall Street Journal 3 June 2008
Background
Google's official announcement and guidance
Resources
Google's Trademark policyGoogle Trademark Complaint ProceduresAdWords Trademark Complaint ProcedureFiling a trademark complaint in the UK & IrelandGoogle AdWords GlossaryGoogle Webmaster Central