Today, Bloomberg reported that American Airliens has settled their case with Google and each company will pay their own legal fees. Terms of the deal were sealed so there is no mention if either party actually saw benefit from the lawsuit. However, conducting a few searches for AA brand terms, we can see that now there’s no lawsuit and there are still advertising bidding on American’s trademarks.
The article points out the argument Google was using:
“Google compared the program to practices such as placing generic drugs next to name brands in pharmacies and buying billboard ads next to those of competitors.”
This is basically the same way I’ve always seen this issue. If a customer goes to Rite Aid to buy some NyQuil but sees that the generic or possibly even a similar brand is cheaper, does NyQuil have a right to sue Rite Aid?
I can also see the American Airlines’ point of view. They’ve spent millions of dollars building up their brand and should be upset when other advertisers are showing up for their brand terms. I get upset about it too when I see other people bidding on brand terms for the account I’m working on.
Nevertheless, just because the user is searching for your brand doesn’t guarantee a sale and it should still be up to the company to complete the sale. If you’ve got the best product, or best price, or best service or a combination of these and other factors, then you will get the sale. On the other hand, if you’ve built up a brand based on wrongly perceived value (see Bose or Monster Cable), then it’s your fault when you lose a customer out to the competition that offers the same or better product but is able to deliver it at a lower price.
From a customer point of view, it’s great being able to see a selection of products - especially if I’m still in the research phase and only know a few big names in a category. Providing me with options on the brands I do know allows me to save a couple searches from other “related” terms I find on whatever it is I’m searching for.
In the end, I’m glad that the lawsuit was dropped. It does suck from the “big brand”’s point of view because they’re most likely losing a small percentage of customers, but it’s good for the small advertiser who has a better product (or better overall marketing) who is just trying to get their name out there and it’s also good for the customer who is provided with a broader selection to be able to choose the best company for them. Let’s also not forget Google and the other engines - they make a nice profit off it too.
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