Tesco say they will not bid for competitor brand keywords on Google

Last week I blogged about Google's new trademark policy that allows bidding for competitor brand keywords. Yesterday, Marketing magazine reported that Tesco 'signalled its intention to take the moral high ground; stating that it will not attempt to bid on search terms relating to its competitors.'

Tesco currently spend over £2m a year on online advertising and are concerned that Google's new trademark policy might lead to significant price increases with competitors bidding for each others brand keywords.

Will Tesco's competitors follow their lead?  Knowing how fiercely competitive UK supermarkets are, it will be extremely tempting for their competitors to do the opposite and start bidding for 'Tesco' related keywords, knowing Tesco have said that they wouldn't. 

What do you think?

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.