Using Brand Names and Trademarks

As I mentioned in the previous section, brand names and trademarks are among the best
converting keywords. Consumers place a lot of value in brand names. The company
who owns the brand name has already invested significant time and money into their
brand. As an affiliate, you can often leverage the power of a company's brand name to
increase your appeal to online shoppers.
Some merchants do not allow their affiliates to use their brand names in keyword
campaigns. Many merchants are very protective of their brand names for a number of
reasons.

Here are some common concerns merchants have about their brand names:
• Brand Dilution - Some merchants work very hard to build brand prestige. The
company may only want their branding message to appear in certain places at
certain times. What would happen to a brand like Rolex® if they started
appearing on Wal-Mart® shelves?
• Brand Misrepresentation - It takes a lot of time and money for a company to
build a brand's reputation. Many merchants are afraid that their brand may be
misrepresented by their affiliates.
• Brand Confusion - Sometimes consumers have a hard time discerning between a
company's official website and an affiliate's website. This potential confusion
could frustrate the customer.
In addition to these concerns, some merchants feel that affiliates who use their branded
keywords don’t add value. They may think it was the brand name that influenced the
customer to make a purchase, rather than the affiliate's website or marketing efforts.

Tip:
Some merchants don't allow their affiliates to use their brand name (by itself) in a
keyword campaign, but will allow their affiliates to use variations and misspellings of
their brand names. For example, "brand name" may not be acceptable, but "brand name
review" or "brand name comparison" may be acceptable with the merchant. Some
merchants prohibit their affiliates from using any misspellings or variations of their brand
names in their keyword campaigns.

It's important to understand that while a merchant may not allow you to use their brand
name, you may still be able to use brand names of products and services that they sell.
For example, Wal-Mart® does not allow their affiliates to use "Wal-Mart" or any
misspellings or variations, but using the brand names of products that they sell is allowed.
This makes perfect sense since Wal-Mart doesn't own these trademarks.
Brand names are a hot-button issue right now in search engine marketing. Some brandconscience
companies, like Geico®, have gone to extraordinary lengths to prevent search
engines from allowing competitors, resellers, and affiliates from bidding on their
trademarks.

This section only deals with brand names and trademarks as they relate to bidding on
keywords in paid search listings. Most merchants encourage their affiliates to use their
brand names on their websites and in marketing messages. We'll discuss more trademarks
tips and strategies in subsequent sections.

Advice for Using Trademarks in Paid Search

Understanding when and how you can use a merchant’s trademark is very important. I
advise that you read the merchant’s affiliate agreement to see what is and isn’t allowed. If
you need clarification, don’t hesitate to call or contact the affiliate manager.
The most popular paid search platforms (Google, Microsoft and Yahoo) have their own
policies and procedures for trademark issues. For example, on Google you can bid on just
about any trademark, regardless of your relationship to the trademark holder, but you
may need to request permission to use the mark in your ad copy.

Yahoo and Microsoft allow trademark bidding as long as you’re not bidding on your
competitor’s trademarks.

I’ve included links to the trademark policies of Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo below:
Google’s Trademark Policy for AdWords -
https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6118