Respect Rival Firm Names in AdWords Campaigns

Stratton Faxon, a Connecticut personal injury law firm, is closing the book on a lawsuit it brought in state court last year against search engine giant Google. The firm challenged the ability for a competing firm to bid on the Stratton Faxon name in a Google AdWords pay-per-click campaign.

The case was dismissed on a technicality without consideration of the points in dispute, when a state judge ruled that the case should have been filed in federal rather than state court. The firm does not intend to pursue the matter.

"Our objectives had been achieved," Stratton says. "Nobody dares buy our name from Google AdWords at this point."

According to an article published in Media Post News, "Stratton Faxon alleged that these ads interfered with the firm's business relations with clients, engaged in an unfair business practice under Connecticut law, and was unjustly enriched."

This Rainmaking Lady's advice is that it is almost never a good business practice to attract attention to your firm by using a rival's name in an online campaign, even if the name is hidden inside meta tags.