Name In Vain: Google Goes After Scammers
- by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, December 8, 2009
Google is asking a federal court to shut down sites that allegedly use the search company's name and logo to trick consumers into purchasing "work-at-home" kits.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in district court in Utah, Google alleges that Pacific WebWorks and other companies infringe Google's trademark by incorporating it in ads for phony products. "Defendants deceive the public by misusing the famous Google brand and Google marks to sell to consumers work-at-home kits purporting to train and enable consumers to earn money using Google services," the lawsuit alleges.
Pacific WebWorks and a host of other defendants, whose identity is still unknown, allegedly dupe consumers through ads and emails that link to fake articles in made-up publications like "The New York Gazette News." These fictional stories feature people who say they earn money through Google-related work-at-home businesses.
"The news articles are formatted to look as if they originate with a real newspaper or news agency," Google alleges in its papers. "In actuality, these sites are not authentic. Virtually none of the articles are published by actual news outlets."
The ads allegedly promise users that they can earn money by purchasing training kits for phony programs like "Google AdWork," "Google Cash," and "Google ATM." In addition, the companies involved in the scam incorporate Google in domain names like googlemoneyprofits.com, according to the lawsuit.
At least one of the work-at-home ads allegedly shows a photograph of a $5,000 check supposedly issued by Google.
The ads ask consumers provide a credit/debit card in order to process low shipping fees, usually of less than $3. But once the companies have that information, they allegedly start billing customers up to $79.90 a month for subscriptions, according to the complaint.
Google alleges that some consumers have complained directly to it and asked for refunds.
In addition to trademark infringement, Google has alleged that Pacific WebWorks violated a federal cybersquatting law and various state and federal unfair competition laws. Google is seeking an injunction ordering Pacific WebWorks to stop using the Google name in its campaigns as well as monetary damages and attorneys' fees.
Pacific WebWorks says on its site that it "develops business software technologies and solutions for small and medium sized businesses that want to use the Internet as part of their business strategy." The company did not respond to Online Media Daily's request for comment.
The work-at-home ads also have sparked a separate lawsuit against Pacific WebWorks in Illinois state court. In addition, in July the Federal Trade Commission sued over similar ads, but that suit named other defendants.
They could have avoided any cybersquatting or trademark issues by including all search engines in their advertising. The fact that their business is suspect is not the issue from Google's standpoint. It is the use of their name as part of sales and marketing.
Given that, Google would need to pursue the same actions with other companies who promote their services in conjunction with Google applications: maps, docs, searches, pictures, and so on.
Of course, Google would never do this because they have a primary directive to keep their name in the consciousness of web users; otherwise, Bing, Ask and other search enges inwould dilute their brand.
Google is talking out of both sides of their mouth: on one side they promote because it creates more revenue for themselves; on the other side they sue because it makes money for others.
Do no evil? Yes, unless it takes money out of their pockets. Sad
While it sure sounds unethical and illegal to me, is this the case of the shoe being on the other foot - someone 'leveraging' the Google brand and/or content?
Maybe Pacific WebWorks should just direct some traffic back to Google, so Google can make up the shortfall with ad revenue and everything will be sweet.