Am I alone in totally disagreeing with Google’s policy of allowing companies to bid on competitors brand names? As a professional marketer I have a problem with this. To me it’s almost marketing piracy. And as a consumer I am now getting increasingly annoyed that when I google something very specific , most of the first page is now taken up with competitors, whose products I am not interested in. Similarly I often get listings of companies who don’t actually represent the hotel I want to book or sell the product I want to buy. So, as a consumer Google doesn’t meet my needs as it used to. Perhpas consumer pressure will eventually change things? Or perhaps Google’s competitors will take a more ethical stance, so that we increasingly bing things rather than google them?

Other posts of interest:

1. A global success without marketing?
2. Link between advertising spend and brand performance?
3. ‘Remarketing’ from Google – what if I don’t want to be remarketed to?