Le Meridien Gets Preliminary Relief Against Google Adwords

This from The Register: a French court, ruling that Google's keyword advertising service infringes the merchandise score of Le Meridien Hotels, ordered Google.fr to halt using the merchandise score to trigger advertisements for Le Meridien's competitors. The gauge ordered Google to pay all courtroom fees addition a €2000 ($2,595) fine. The Tribunal de Grande Instance de Nanterre said that Google must halt linking challenger ads to searches for Le Meridien merchandise score items too Le Meridien brands. If Google fails to withdraw offending advertising links inside 72 hours of beingness notified of a listing it faces a daily fine of €150 ($195). Google relies on adword sales for merely about 98 per cent of its income. Not all of this is theme on challenger searches, however. Still, Google says it volition appeal against this decision, saying:

"We volition maintain to defend against this suit, which nosotros believe is without merit".

The French court's determination at odds amongst rulings on similar cases inwards the US. In the representative of Geico, a machine insurance company, a U.S. courtroom ruled that Google's adword sales were consistent amongst other comparative advertising practices inwards the states, too that the practise did non violate federal merchandise score laws. However, inwards Europe, Louis Vuitton has also successfully sued the search companionship for merchandise score infringement.

Le Meridien: litigating against Google may plough out to travel an expensive pastime

's friend Frédéric Glaize (Meyer & Partenaires) comments:

"A similar judgment past times the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Nanterre was issued on 17 January: Overture has been held legally liable because the gauge considered Overture's advertising booking tool also encouraged advertisers to chose keywords that were merchandise marks belonging to Accor. Overture was ordered to pay damages of 200 000 euros too to release the judgment on its website".

welcomes the decision. He doesn't similar to run across search engines cashing inwards on a company's reputation inwards social club to harm it past times selling "hits" to its competitors. Merpel says there's already plenty hassle inwards telling Meridien from Meridian

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