Am I on the Google adwords “no-fly” list?
Posted by pengcognito on May 13, 2009
Well! I can now use the word “penguin” in an ad to describe stuff that has penguins on it. But Google still won’t tell me who complained.
From Google: (regarding this)
“Please know that the usage of the term ‘penguin’ in your ads does not violate our trademark policy. Therefore, please feel free to submit ads using this term. Also, please reply to this email after submitting the ads so that I can expedite the review process.”
My (admittedly paranoid) translation: “Some bot at a 400-pound-gorilla somewhere screwed up, but we sure aren’t going to tell you who. However we still don’t trust you, so we’re going to vet your ads closely just to be sure.”
Or maybe they’re just being nice and they really want to expedite my ads being approved, though they always seemed to be ‘approved’ instantly before.
Any veteran adwords-ers out there know if there is a Google watch list? Actually I thought once they decided you were a bad guy, they just banned you. It’s not like I’m advertising “free macbook air!” (with a few strings attached[1]) or flooding the net with autogenerated pages selling star trek ringtones. I’m advertising bumper stickers with penguins on, and the ad goes to a page of bumper stickers with penguins on.
(You might guess – and you’d be right – that I suck at this adwords stuff and that it just barely scrapes up enough new traffic for me to be wothwhile.)
And now I’m really curious. OF COURSE I’m going to keep asking 
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[1] “Free” sure doesn’t mean what it used to.
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jgoode said
I feel your pain. Google can’t confirm it – however from my own past experience and the current situation on Google… it’s Perry Ellis, the parent company for “Original Penguin” that is the trademark holder of the word “penguin” – more specifically when applied to the use in conjunction with apparel (t-shirts).
I also got the adwords boot – I emailed Google to explain that I’ve already had this argument through legal routes over the last 2 years. The reply I received from G was that the trademark holder/owner decides is they’ll allow each instance or not.
Glad you got it worked out… you can also use the word PENGUINS and it’s not infringing.
Happy penguin selling!
pengcognito said
I never would have guessed! (though this ad was specifically for bumper stickers, so, …huh?)
I wonder why Google won’t tell us who complained. It seems like they don’t want us to try to work it out. Which is silly, because less ads = less revenue for them…
I guess all we can know for sure is that someone at some trademark-holder-company has a *truly* boring job that makes them a bit cranky!