• by Gary Allen , October 2, 2008

Most search marketers still can't answer this question, but after logging hundreds of conversations at Search Engine Strategies and other industry shows, it's become obvious that a great unknown among search marketers needs to be shouted for all to hear ...

It's up to you, marketers, to police the use of your brand on the engines!

Even among search insiders, many just don't get it. So what, exactly, ought marketers to be concerned about, and what steps can be taken to mitigate losses?

Marketers first need to understand the rules, which the engines spell out quite clearly. Each of the leading search engines allows marketers to bid on competitors' trademarked terms but prohibit the use of these terms in the actual ad copy. So Kohl's can bid on the term Target and Target can bid on the term Kohl's, for example. But neither can use the other's trademarked terms in their ad copy.

Although the rules are clear, marketers often don't feel an urgency to act. Many seem to think the engines will tackle these rule violations on their behalf. Whatever the reason, marketers across a wide spectrum, from front line media buyers to directors and CMOs, often don't see the urgency to protect their trademarks in search. The same people that would flip if a competitor pirated their logo commonly don't even seem to be aware their brand is being hijacked by the competition on Google and other engines. Perhaps caused by a lack of familiarity, their hesitancy to proactively safeguard their brand equity disappears quickly once they understand what's at stake.

First and foremost, marketers risk losing a customer that actively sought them out. We're talking about the brand as a keyword here; so any resulting ads get triggered by the user entering the marketer's trademarked term. Beyond this loss and the obvious brand equity a marketer stands to lose, rogue competitors and affiliates also poach marketers' trademark for the resulting sales and traffic. The rightful owner of the trademarked term also risks setting up a consumer for a bad experience or permanently losing that customer to a copycat site.

To fight trademark infringement, it's up to marketers to identify the culprits and file paperwork directly with the search engines to effectively order the violator to cease and desist. Once the right documentation and paperwork has been submitted, Google, Yahoo, MSN and the other engines will boot the advertisements in violation of the trademark usage policy. They've been doing this for years, and they won't stop protecting their customers' intellectual property any time soon. Marketers just need to understand the engines will not or cannot take the initiative for them.

Some marketers seem to avoid trademark monitoring simply because the task can be so daunting. Although new, automated tools exist that make the process easy, many still try to take on the increasingly important task themselves. These marketers either devote their own time, designate an employee or pay costly attorney's fees to manage and resolve trademark infringement. This process typically involves the designated person manually clicking on one search engine page after another while looking for infringing ads.

Most of the nation's top 50 search firms and many of the best known brands employ some automated trademark monitoring tool to employ a more scientific, comprehensive and automated approach to identifying and resolving improper trademark use.

Regardless of which strategy a marketer chooses to employ, they should understand the rules, the stakes and the options. Ignoring the ever growing problem of trademark infringement won't make it go away.