US trademark policy relaxed to allow trademarks in ad text under certain criteria

Google changed its US policy so advertisers meeting certain criteria, such as resellers of the trademarked product, could use trademark terms in ad text without the owner's approval. The change applied to ads on Google.com and to US users on the search and content networks.

Google began accepting new ads containing trademark terms at 11am PDT on May 15, 2009, but they did not start showing until June 15, 2009. Previously disapproved ads that complied could be resubmitted.