Google Cracking Down on Trademark Use

December 19, 2005 @ 7:35 pm · Filed under AdSense, General Web Publishing

Google has been cracking down on websites which use trademarked terms like “Google” or “AdSense” in the domain name. They have been sending letters to publishers indicating that this is a TOS violation and that AdSense can no longer be used on the site.

Eric Giguere and a poster on WebmasterWorld have both reported getting letters.

This is important to keep in mind when choosing domain names. If you plan to run AdSense on a site, don’t use any of Google’s trademarks.

2 Comments

  1. Eric Scalf Said,

    December 20, 2005 @ 6:00 pm

    Thanks for the heads up! I’ve sent an e-mail to Google asking whether or not using such trademarks within the full URL (such as website.com/category/google) is acceptable, or not. Blogged about it, and when I receive Google’s response, I’ll update that entry.

  2. Toivo Lainevool Said,

    December 20, 2005 @ 6:23 pm

    Thanks for keeping us updated.

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