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03-19-2014, 04:30 PM #1Junior Guru Wannabe
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Godaddy is trying to push me around. What do you think?
I ran a small Google Adwords campaign recently, and I did not choose the keywords, I used the keyword tool and imported a shotgunsspread of terms using the category imports. A few days later I get this email from Godaddy trying to bully me into removing a keyword closely resembling their name.
Below is their letter and my reply. What do you think about this?
************** GoDaddy's Bully Letter *************
Dear Glenn Lyvers:
It has recently come to our attention that your company appears to be bidding on Go Daddy's trademarked terms (or terms that are confusingly similar to our trademarks) as keywords for search engine advertisements. The specific details are as follows:
Date: March 18, 2014, 5:17 a.m.
Engine: AOL
Title: Ultra fast web hosting
Text: Celebrating 20 years of service. Website hosting from $2 a month.
Display URL: www.instantaccess.net/
Keyword: go dady
Ad Link: http://instantaccess.net
Location: United States
Ad:
Ultra fast web hosting
Celebrating 20 years of service. Website hosting from $2 a month.
www.instantaccess.net/
Position on page:
8
Ad Click URL:
http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=C...tantaccess.net
Go Daddy is the owner of the following U.S. trademark registrations (among others): GO DADDY (U.S. Reg. Nos. 2558989 and 2593111), GODADDY.COM (U.S. Reg. Nos. 2945200, 2969916 and 3672972), and DADDY (U.S. Reg. No.3156369).
These registrations are prima facie evidence of the validity of the marks, of our ownership of the marks, and of our exclusive right to use the marks in commerce. Go Daddy does not authorize any use that your company may be making of the trademarks described herein, nor is such use otherwise permissible under law.
Although our trademarked terms may not appear directly in your advertisements, we maintain that usage of Go Daddy's protected trademarks as search terms/advertising keywords constitutes a trademark infringement. Advertising based on our trademarked keywords uses our marks in commerce in any way that is likely to cause confusion among consumers who perform a search for the protected mark "Go Daddy," and are instead presented with an advertisement for a competing website.
To prevent confusion and to protect Go Daddy’s intellectual property rights, therefore, we request that you do the following:
1. Discontinue advertising on any and all search terms that are identical to or confusingly similar to our registered trademarks
2. Add the registered trademarks listed above to your “negative keywords" list to prevent your advertisements from appearing on searches for our registered trademarks in the future.
Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this important matter.
Regards,
Carlos Becerra
I P Enforcement Administrator
Go Daddy Operating Company, LLC
********* My Reply Pasted Below ***************
Do you have any case citations that would support this claim of infringement being held up in court? It seems clear from Google's policy which specifically notes that Google will not investigate ANY claims based on this type of assertion, that the line has been drawn based on their legal interpretation. In point of fact, I did not choose my keywords, I used those which were "suggested" by the Google Adwords system. In the absence of any meaningful reply from you, I will believe that Google suggests the use of keywords which are legal to use, and that there are hundreds if not thousands of other companies like mine which use these same terms. I have no intention of putting my company at a disadvantage without proof that you are not simply full of bologna.
I am of the belief that you already know this information. I am bidding on search terms within the private network of Google and it's users, and not some public display of trademarked names in ad copy. My services and business name are clearly displayed to the customer, and they are certainly not confusing. Customers are NOT mislead into believing they are buying Godaddy services when they buy from me. Indeed, users have every expectation of receiving multiple results from numerous companies when they search for any search term whatsoever, even trademarked names. Moreover, I find that presenting superior services as an option to potential clients searching for competitive trademarked names is a service to those customers, particularly as it relates to the quality of services GoDaddy provides.
You already know that Google does not prevent these keywords, and that their actions lead to scores of companies employing the use of these search terms, and you are not pursuing a lawsuit against Google because there is no wrongdoing here and you know Google will defeat your claim and result in your company becoming a greater joke. Instead, you are trying to bully small competitors by sending letters with legal terms in hopes they will cower in fear or ignorantly relinquish even more market-share to the McDonalds of web hosting and keep the keyword costs low for your business. I suggest that you file a lawsuit against Google if you have any meaningful claim and true desire to stop hundreds (probably thousands) of companies from using keywords you find objectionable.
I hold that the use of competitor keywords, and even trademarks which do not appear in ad copy, is nothing more than allowing consumers to have choices between brands, even when they are searching for a particular brand, as is the nature of business in every shopping center in the world. It seems retailers like Amazon and others feel the same way when they display the brands of competing products when a visitor searches for a particular brand. Indeed, I found that among half a dozen of the world's largets retailers, these policies remain uniform. The Google policy on trademarked names as search criteria is now universal as they have now adopted this policy in many countries. I currently stand with Google's interpretation of this issue.
After a cursory search for cases, I have been unable to locate any precedent in which a court found that customers using competitor keywords has lead to brand name confusion or violated any law. My interpretation of the law is that use of keywords suggested by Google is completely legal. I have NO reason to believe that your interpretation of the law is more legitimate than my own without any proof. I wont be pushed around but I can be persuaded if you have a proof of an identical situation in which there is a precedent on file. I have no doubt but that if such a precedent exists, you would most certainly have it at your fingertips. Since you seem to be in the business of making requests of other companies with regard to their advertising practices, please supply the legal evidence to support your assertion and I may be persuaded to remove the keyword you find objectionable from my campaign.
If you wish to serve me with a lawsuit, I can be found at my residence. That address is publicly available.
Best regards,
Glenn Lyvers
InstantAccess.net▓▓▓ Instant Access Internet Services
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03-19-2014, 04:42 PM #2Web Hosting Master
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What I think is that you shouldn't solicit legal advice from an Internet forum. The US legal system is pretty screwed up, so if I were a US-based company that received a C&D from a much larger US-based company and wanted to fight it, I'd be consulting my (non-armchair) lawyer before doing anything else.
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03-19-2014, 04:45 PM #3Web Host Reviewer
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The onus should be on Google for allowing the word to be sold, and for Godaddy to block the words that supposedly infringe. This little game between big companies and little advertisers is written about all the time.
If Godaddy wants to sidestep Google's legal terms, then they should also be suspended from using it. I'd imagine Godaddy gets more out of it than Google does.
It really is a bully system that works 99% of the time.
This all said, "go dady" in reference to hosting *IS* a confusion and trademark violation.
I still find it silly how everyone says "ask a lawyer". You realize how much lawyers cost, right?|| Need a good host?
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03-19-2014, 04:54 PM #4Aspiring Evangelist
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To me, it wouldn't even be worth the hassle. I'd just remove the keyword. If someone is looking for "go dady", they're likely not looking for you. Case closed..
█ ♥ █ PoppenWorks, Canadian web design, development and hosting. Now with 24/7 support.
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03-19-2014, 05:04 PM #5Junior Guru Wannabe
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I'm not looking for "Legal Advice" in these forums. I'm curious about other opinions on this issue.
It's one thing to package your product in some misleading way, like "Piet Depsy Cola" and quite another to seek customers looking for a brand. In the end, it comes down to whether the customer is being mislead. That's my take.Last edited by instantaccess; 03-19-2014 at 05:04 PM. Reason: duplicate word
▓▓▓ Instant Access Internet Services
▓▓▓ Established 1993 in the USA
▓▓▓ Hosting, Support, Custom Software
▓▓▓ Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP
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03-19-2014, 05:22 PM #6WHT Addict
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Company : rotame.com Complete Internet Solutions
Location : Greece, Athens
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03-19-2014, 05:33 PM #7Web Hosting Master
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Unfortunately, you are incorrect.
It comes down to whichever company feels threatend the most and has both the resources and incination to initiate litigation. You might be 100% right, but do you really want to spend tens of thousands of dollars (if not much more) arguing that in the legal system?
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03-19-2014, 05:35 PM #8Retired Moderator
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This is the best advice. If you run a business you must have some legal professional you use from time to time.
I am going to answer this question:
"I still find it silly how everyone says "ask a lawyer". You realize how much lawyers cost, right?"
Like this:
Do you know how much it can cost you if you DON'T ask a Lawyer and make a mistake?CloudNexus Technology Services
Managed Services
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03-19-2014, 06:06 PM #9
What I find intriguing is that he's not insinuating he *is* GoDaddy with those keywords, just having his ad show when someone is looking for a severely mistyped version of their name. I'd say no one is going to be misled if searching for "go dady" and seeing ads for others show.
Tried just now. Sponsored ad #1? Godaddy.com
Sponsored ad #2: Liquidweb
Following that were several youtube/Facebook accounts with that specific name, so GD better get cracking.
If it were me, I would not have used that keyword in the first place. Too iffy to be doing that with competition, even vaguely. As for the OP? It isn't worth the fight, even as a matter of principal. If it ever came to court, you'd need to prove why that related to your business, and not just that Google offered it as a choice. My opinion, anyway.Your one stop shop for decentralization
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03-19-2014, 06:46 PM #10WHT Addict
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I don't really understand what you're trying to do.
Go Daddy is obviously a trademarked name and registered legally. Most people who are looking for Go Daddy are looking for that company which offers web hosting. A massive amount of money has been spent to advertise and market that domain name, and a company has a responsibility under law to protect their trademarks. If they don't, they lose the right to that trademark. As an example, yo-yo used to be a trademarked name, however they lost ownership as it became commonly used to refer to similar toys. If Go Daddy were to lose ownership over their trademark, this would greatly lower the value of the brand and result in others offering 'Go Daddy' hosting which was not comparable to that actual product. Imagine if someone were to run a business in the same name as yours and do a poor job.
I really don't understand the advantage you gain from having advertising appear when people search 'go dady'. Is this some sort of cheaper way of attracting customers? If a customer types 'go dady', it seems pretty clear to me what they are looking for, and it isn't your website.
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