22 September 2011

News just in:

Google’s placement of advertisements, generated through its AdWords program, on search results pages is not misleading or deceptive conduct contrary to s 52 TPA / s 18 ACL (I’m afraid you have to scroll down).  However, the advertiser’s use of another trader’s name in the headline for an advertisement which had nothing to do with that trade was.

So for example, the Trading Post used the AdWords program to generate an ad:

Kloster Ford

www.tradingpost.com.au New/Used Fords – Search 90,000 + auto ads online. Great finds daily!

The advertisements at the URL did not have anything to do with Kloster Ford or vehicles Kloster Ford was offering for sale.

The Trading Post therefore had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct; Google did not.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Trading Post Australia Pty Ltd [2011] FCA 1086

357 paragraphs to read now (or a bit later)

Lid dip @wenhu

SMH report