From May, keywords that were disabled on AdWords as a result of a trademark protection will no longer be restricted in the UK and Ireland.

This is a significant change that opens branded search up to everyone including affiliates and competitors. Interestingly, the policy change will allow smaller brands to associate themselves with the established names in their sector.

Advertisers will have to to bid on their own trademarks to avoid losing brand term traffic. In the past it has been possible for an advertiser to avoid using paid search for brand terms, relying instead on a top organic listing and on Google to prevent competing advertisers from displaying ads for their brand terms. Now advertisers need to allocate an additional budget to protect their own brand name. Google will continue to perform a limited courtesy investigation of complaints regarding ad text purported to be in violation of a trademark.

Bottom line: Google will generate more revenue and open a can of worms when it comes to smaller market players piggy backing off established brand equity. The playing field is flattened even further in the sponsored listing space. Search managers will need to be on their toes. Their client’s brand exposure is threatened as Google is reneging on trademark protection.

The change is likely to further fuel industry rumours that Google are planning to make a bid for Expedia? It’s also highly likely that Google will purchase one of the large affiliate networks in the future?

Role out the legal actions across Europe..

In an exciting development that further cements Google’s commitment to user generated content, YouTube users who post popular video clips will now be paid for their efforts. They will earn a share of the revenue generated from the adverts which run alongside their clips – potentially making thousands of euro per month.

The YouTube Partner Programme has already been piloted in the US and Canada, and is now coming to this side of the pond. However not everyone can jump on the bandwagon as the scheme is only open to “popular and prolific original content creators”. Contributors must apply to become partners and will be accepted if they regularly upload videos which are viewed by thousands. So one-hit viral wonders need not apply!

The powers that be at Google are remaining tight lipped as to the revenue split but claim that existing partners in the US, whose videos regularly receive over one million hits, are earning several thousand dollars per month.

It seems to be plain old affiliate marketing to us..

American Airlines has decided to pursue litigation against Google for allowing rivals to buy pay-per-click ads triggered by its own trademarks. Although there has been a number of high profile cases in the past involving the likes of Playboy and BMW, the industry will be interested in the outcome of this particular case. There is no doubt that a number of leading companies and brands are having problems when it comes to underhand affiliate activity and pay-per-click arbitrage. The question for the legal system is should Google should be responsible or not?

Google has already triumphed in two recent lawsuits on the issue. The Internet giant released a statement saying that “we are confident that our trademark policy strikes a proper balance between trademark owners’ interests and consumer choice and that our position has been validated by decisions in previous trademark cases”.

On Friday, American Airlines issued an official statement saying it supports Google’s overall business model and “values the importance of the Internet and the convenience that companies such as Google create for consumers around the globe”. “In working through this business dispute,” the statement continued, “American is hopeful that it will continue professional, friendly and fruitful relationships with Google, while finding an appropriate resolution to the trademark issues … American wants to make it clear that its dispute does not seek to prevent the display of search results that reflect consumers’ interests or choices.”

In a funny, rather ironic twist, Google UK is threatening to sue a Dutch cybersquatter who has used the name Google cunningly in several domains. Check out the story here.