Keyword Advertising – Legal Threats

Article by Pekka Tarkela and Jukka Airaksinen

Keyword advertising is an essential source of revenue for search engine companies and apparently, for the advertisers an effective way to reach desired target groups. Keyword advertising services allow advertisers to sponsor particular search terms. Whenever web surfers enter the selected keywords into the search box, they receive a list of results that includes links for the advertiser who bought those terms.

Keyword advertising, particularly use of trademark protected phrases in search en-gine marketing is controversial and has also proven to be a source of legal complica-tions for the search engines as well as the advertisers who have selected protected trademarks and tradenames as their keywords.