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Can I openly name my competitor in my google ads?
Posted by on June 4, 2021 at 8:27 pmHi ,
I’m launching a Google ads campaign, targeting my competitors company name as the keyword.
Can I openly say “we are better than (enter competitors name)” in the ad copy.
Thanks in advance!
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7 Replies
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I dont think google will notice or care much but if the competitor notices they can have google suspend your account or at least issue a takedown + possibly getting sued by naming them directly. I think it’d be best to do what big companies do in ads where, Leading Brand X in this suspiciously narrow field kinda thing.
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It depends on the country. But in most of the them you must follow 3 simple rules:
1. You can’t pretend to be another company (so using keyword insertion is bad idea)
2. You can’t say you are the best or the most “anything” without specifying third party source of the statement
3. You still can mention competitors and even compare your product to theirs but it must be objective and truthful comparison (IT MAY VERY BY THE COUNTRY SO CHECK BEFORE FOLLOWING IT) -
Most of the time it goes against their trademark policy.
You can bid on their name, but cannot have it in their ad. However, you can get creative in your copy so people know who you are referring to anyway.
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Personally I think naming your competitor is tacky and counter productive. Companies only really do it when they are in trouble (think surface v iPad ads).
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You can do so if your competitor doesn’t (a) have a trademark on their brand, and (b) they haven’t registered the trademark with Google. If/when they do that none of your ads will get approved.
However, even if they don’t have a trademark they aren’t prevented from suing you.
In general, it’s best to avoid direct comparisons with other products as some competitors will seek vengeance.
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That’s one thing I really dislike about ads, and also about politics.
Instead of attacking your competitor, why don’t you make your business shine? What are you offering that stands out? What makes your business shine on the market?
Politicians do the same thing they always attack each others instead of explaining what positive upgrades they bring to the table.
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Look at what I just came across!
[https://imgur.com/gALQRsJ](https://imgur.com/gALQRsJ)
How is Freshworks able to get away with this? They are naming hubspot (their competitor) in their own google ad AND they are saying that freshworks is better.
Goes against everything we spoke about in this thread…
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