Hi Kalena
I took your Google Analytics 1 day course last year through the Institute of IT Professionals (and loved it)!
I’ve been getting a few curly questions from our members (physiotherapist business owners) that I don’t know the answer to so I was seeking your help. Here’s one that I had from one of our members, just on the off chance that it’s a super easy one to answer! If not I will continue on my googling quest to find the answer.
He says “I’m a physio business owner and a competitor is using my actual business name in their Adwords – not in the keyword search terms but the actual ad. IS this illegal and can I make them take it down?”
Kalena, from my research through Adwords policies it looks as if the answer is no, this is not illegal. Using a trademarked term “Gmail” in your ads is illegal – but I couldn’t find any mention of just using a business name.
Appreciate any insight you might have! And will hopefully see you at another course this year.
Thanks
Claire
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Hi Claire
I do remember you, lovely to hear from you.
It just so happens that I researched this very topic not too long ago 
It all started with a question submitted to my blog: Can competitors use my company name in their AdWords ads?
After some more research, I ended up writing a more detailed article about it for SiteProNews: Making Sense of Trademarks in AdWords.
The short answer is that it depends on the region of the advertiser. Google may also have changed their policy since publication of that article, so make sure you check for the latest policy wording.
Hope this helps!
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