Trademarks

We abide by local trademark laws and protect the rights of trademark owners, so we don’t allow ads that infringe trademark rights. However, advertisers may use trademarks that belong to others in certain situations as described below, such as when they are identifying a product that they resell. If a trademark owner submits a complaint to Google about the use of their trademark in Google Ads ads, we will review it and may restrict use of the trademark.

Trademarks policy criteria

When reviewing a trademark owner complaint, we consider all of the below criteria to determine whether to restrict use of the trademark in ads.

Where in the ad the trademark is used

The trademark must be used in the ad (and not only on the ad’s landing page).

We will not restrict:

• Use of trademarks as keywords
• Trademarks that are used in the second-level domain of the ad’s display URL

How the trademark is used

We will restrict:

• If the trademark is used in an ad from a direct competitor
• If the ad is using the trademark in a confusing, deceptive or misleading way

We will not restrict:

• If the landing page of the ad using the trademark is primarily dedicated to selling (or clearly facilitating the sale of) products or services, components, replacement parts or compatible products or services corresponding to the trademark

  • The ad’s landing page must clearly provide a way to purchase the products or services and display commercial information about them, such as rates or prices.

  • The ad and landing page must be clear as to whether the advertiser is a reseller or informational site.

• If the primary purpose of the landing page of the ad using the trademark is to provide informative details about products or services corresponding to the trademark, or an index of search results related to the trademark
• If the ad is using the trademark descriptively in its ordinary meaning

Submit a trademark complaint

If you are a trademark owner and would like to submit a trademark complaint, see how to report content on Google.

If after reviewing a complaint we determine that we should restrict use of the trademark in an ad, we generally will apply the restrictions on an ongoing basis in any ads that use the same second-level domain in their final URL.

Appeal a trademarks policy restriction

Advertisers who believe that their ads are incorrectly restricted under this policy may submit an appeal by following the instructions in the notifications associated with those restrictions. Where an advertiser’s account features ads that violate the policy as well as those that do not, they may delete the violating ads and submit an appeal to lift the restriction on the non-violating ads. However, if that same advertiser later creates new ads that violate the policy, any subsequent trademark restrictions generally will be maintained regardless of changes to the advertiser’s account.

Trademark complaints submitted prior to 24 July 2023

Some ads may be restricted due to trademark complaints submitted prior to 24 July 2023. As described in the Google Ads policy change log, those restrictions will be phased out through 2024. Advertisers may submit an appeal by following the instructions in the notifications associated with the restrictions, or the trademark owner may authorise the advertiser’s account by completing the Third-party Authorisation Request form.

If you have additional questions after carefully reviewing this policy page, you may utilise our Google Ads Trademark Troubleshooter to help direct you to the correct resources.