One thing I've noticed in my PPC adventures is that Google AdWords is anal-retentive when it comes to using drug trademarks in the legal space. This probably isn't the only area where trademarks become an issue (The Apple trademark seems to be another one), but drugs are where I've noticed it most. Accutane is a drug that is designed to cure extremely bad cases of Acne. Unfortunately, if you litigate on it, Google makes it impossible to use the trademark in your ads unless you're also a pharmacy. This is problematic, and it's an area Google hasn't addressed in their automated system at the expense of the legal community. It looks like someone has found a little loophole that fell through the cracks, though. Notice the extra space:
It seems that Google's automation isn't perfect. This is something that a human would definitely catch. I'd venture to guess this guy's CTR is benefiting substantially from this. "Accutane" vs. "Acne treatment?" No comparison.
I cannot vouch for the ethics of this method, however. And if I were a law firm, I'd be very careful.
January 4th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Actually, in this case it's not because of the trademark but because Google requires those advertisers to be enrolled in PharmacyChecker.
For trademarks, Yahoo is a bit more restrictive than Google because they don't allow the use of keywords containing competitor trademarks (and I think you can't get around it by using spaces). Their policy is at here.
January 4th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
You read my mind; I was still editing. It's still an irritating problem, though, as lawyers have no problem getting drug-related trademarks listed in other PPC programs.
January 4th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
You can also get by the automated system by adding the ®(registered trademark) symbol to the trademark. Just make sure that you don't put a space between the symbol and the mark.