RSS
American Airlines & Google Settle Advertising Lawsuit
By Daya Baran at July 21, 2008 0 Comments
American Airlines and Google have reached an agreement over it lawsuit claiming Google’s search engine directed users to advertisements for the airline’s competitors. American was seeking unspecified damages for trademark infringement.
American was upset that when Google users entered search terms such as AAdvantage, the trademark name of its frequent-flier program, the results included Web sites that had no connection to American. The airline said the results could confuse consumers and divert customers from its own Web site.
Google compared its policy to grocery stores that give shoppers a coupon for Minute Maid orange juice if they buy Tropicana, or magazines that publish a Ford ad on the page opposite from a story about Chevrolets.
“Of course they are seeking to ‘hijack’ or ‘divert’ consumers who have indicated an interest in their competitors’ products,” As long as the companies don’t falsely identify a product or service, it’s legal, they said.
Labels: google, keywords, Search
