Written By Reprise Media | February 14, 2006 | Share This |

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News.com reports (via Search Engine Watch Blog) that CNG Financial, the parent company of Check N’ Go (a chain of payday loan provider outlets), wants to pick up where GEICO left off late last summer: they are dragging Google into court over the search giant’s practice of allowing anyone, including direct competitors, to purchase trademarked phrases as advertising keywords.

When last we left the AdWords trademarked keyword controversy, Google and GEICO had settled out of court, leaving the whole matter legally unsettled. As far as the new complaint goes, the names have changed, but the song remains the same: Check N’ Go is mad that other payday loan outfits can buy the phrase ‘check n’ go’ from Google so that their own contextual ads appear when that phrase is searched - instead of Check N’ Go’s. Before the GEICO settlement, the District Court Judge in that case, Leonie Brinkema, had partially sided with Google but was going to allow it to go to trial; on the strength of that preliminary ruling, a Google spokesperson said, “We believe our trademark policy is lawful.” Well, Check N’ Go will see you in court.

Google, of course, has reason to defend AdWords tooth and nail, as advertising revenue is the company’s life blood. But theirs is an ever-changing game, and Google is too smart to stand still while the law catches up with them. They always seem to be tinkering with AdWords, trying to find new ways for it to generate cash. For instance, word has been swirling for a couple of months about their proposed pay-per-call feature - which they’re calling ‘click-to-call’ - and today they appear to be finally testing it.

The idea for pay-per-call certainly isn’t new; customers who see ads for products that interest them online indicate that they would like to be contacted by a salesperson over the phone. We’re not too sure about it ourselves, though. First, there’s a national do-not-call list for a reason: lots of people want to do everything in their power not to get a call from a marketer. And second, why would someone searching for information online in the first place be interested in getting a phone call instead?

At any rate, Google’s going for it. Yesterday Seth Godin spotted Google testing the click-to-call feature while searching for New York hotels: a green phone icon appears next to the listing; click on it, and a dialogue box pops up prompting you for your phone number. Theoretically, this would lead to a call from one of the company’s sales reps. One problem, though, is that Seth said it wasn’t working. And we saw a handful of other bloggers out there also trying without success. If anyone’s managed to get this magic trick operational, please shoot us a line to let us know.

Topics: Advertising: Contextual |