MAY, 04, 2009 - Google, today announced that its trademark complaint investigations will no longer result in Google monitoring or restricting keywords for ads served to users in the Middle East and North Africa. This means it will be possible for more relevant ads to appear in the sponsored links after a user has typed in a search query using a trademarked term.

The change, which will also affect many other regions across the world, will come into force on 4th June 2009, and means:

  • a user typing in a trademarked keyword into the search box will now be presented with more relevant ads in the sponsored links section, giving them greater choice;

  • a company advertising on Google.ae or google.com.eg for example will now be able to select trademarked terms as keywords; and

  • MENA will be brought into line with the US, Canada, UK & Ireland who have already adopted this policy.

Husni Khuffash, Business Development Manager, Google, UAE said:  

"Google's goal is to provide our users with the most relevant information, from both search results and advertising. We are making this change because we want to give users greater choices to help them make informed decisions."

Google's ads text policy remains unchanged  - unauthorised advertisers will not be able to use a monitored trademarked term in their ad text. This trademark policy change only affects keywords.

This change affects the regions listed here - https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=144298. The policy in other regions remains unchanged: selecting monitored trademarks as keywords will not be allowed. 

-Ends-

About Google Inc.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

For more information, please contact:
Mohammad Zaher
Consultant
Impact Porter Novelli, for Google
m.souleiman@ipn.ae
+971 50 7400474
+971 40 330 4030

Joanne Kubba
Google
Global Communications and Public Affairs Manager,
Middle East and North Africa
Jkubba@google.com

© Press Release 2009