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eBay Bans Google Keywords
from the how-is-that-illegal? dept
eBay has apparently sent legal nastygrams to Google, telling them that they need to remove any Adwords ads that are based on the keyword "ebay" or "auction web sites". I'm not sure if they have a legal leg to stand on, but Google has removed the ads. Those who are using those keywords aren't infringing on trademarks, they're just trying to buy the right relevant ads. If they were then making the ads looks as though they were from eBay, that's a different story. But just using those keywords shouldn't be illegal. As someone pointed out in the story, eBay does the same thing themselves, buying up keywords for brand name products, like Gucci, that are sold on eBay.
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eBay is definitely worried about Google...should be interesting watching what moves both sides make in the next year or so. AdWords is shaping up as a huge competitor to eBay in the "connecting buyers & sellers" market.
It seems like eBay has been kind of stagnant and hasn't really innovated for awhile...but ultimately eBay owns the data so their position is more defensible than Google's IMHO.
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