web MARKETING in the digital age
SOMEONE ’ S BIDDING ON MY NAME IN GOOGLE WHAT DO I DO ?
By Kenneth L . Hardison
Nothing ’ s more frustrating to a lawyer than losing a Google ranking position to another law firm . Oh , except one thing : losing your rank in position to a law firm using your brand name .
Unfortunately , other lawyers bidding on your name has become an all too common occurrence .
The obvious problem with this lowball tactic is that they ’ re stealing your glory . More importantly , they ’ re stealing your clicks . And to add insult to injury , they ’ re probably driving option costs up higher as well , meaning the cost per click on your own brand name is costing you more .
One would think this kind of thing wouldn ’ t be allowed on Google ’ s tightly controlled network , but unfortunately , crying to Google won ’ t get you far on this one .
Their stance on the subject ? “ Google won ’ t investigate or restrict the selection of trademarks as keywords , even if we receive a trademark complaint .”
While Google won ’ t allow advertisers to use brand names in ad copy , they ’ re okay with your brand name ( your trademark ) being used as a keyword to drive traffic to other people ’ s pages .
28 x The A-List