Smart Communications Inc. is bringing the telco wars to search. Do a search for “globe visibility” (the product name for Globe Telecom’s flagship 3G/HSDPA mobile broadband service) and you’ll see the Smart 3G Adwords ad in the top PPC spot.


Let the PPC war begin.

Is this keyword hijacking strategy legal? No, it’s not legal. That’s according to the Google Adwords FAQ:

Google takes allegations of trademark infringement very seriously and, as a courtesy, we’re happy to investigate matters raised by trademark owners. Also, our Terms and Conditions with advertisers prohibit intellectual property infringement by advertisers and make it clear that advertisers are responsible for the keywords they choose to generate advertisements and the text that they choose to use in those advertisements.

The key thing here to remember is trademark infringement. I assume Globe has the “Globe Visibility” term trademarked. If that’s the case, then they can raise a complaint with Adwords to stop Smart from using that trademarked term as a keyword trigger.

When we receive a complaint from a trademark owner, our review is limited to ensuring that the advertisements at issue are not using a term corresponding to the trademarked term in the ad text or as a keyword trigger. If they are, we will require the advertiser to remove the trademarked term from the ad text or keyword list and will prevent the advertiser from using the trademarked term in the future.

This is very reminiscent of the Mazda/Pontiac paid search controversy a year ago.

A recent example is automaker Mazda’s move on a GM Pontiac campaign. In a TV spot, Pontiac challenged consumers to “search for us on Google” to view the positive brand buzz. Within days, “Pontiac versus Mazda” appeared in the sponsored listings. The competitor created a comparative landing page evaluating features from one auto from each manufacturer. While other issues exist, many SEM firms lean toward drafting in this case.

Reprise sees this use of search as drafting. “We were encouraged to see that, and surprised to see that a greater number of advertisers haven’t used that tactic in the past,” said Hershberg. “Mazda was able to benefit from Pontiac’s offline ad spending.”

Is this strategy effective? That’s a definite YES. What better way to poach leads than to set up a stall right beside the competition? You’re hitting prospects at the point where they’re declaring their intention: I’m interested in a mobile broadband solution now. Not tomorrow, not next week. Search-generated prospects are definitely hotter than someone reading a flyer you distributed in the mall. Flyer boy may not even be your target market. Search boy on the other hand is.

Moreover, Smart can pull back its offline marketing spending and let Globe be the one spending to push mobile broadband offline. Smart can then just target keywords from Globe Telecom’s offline campaigns for its PPC campaign. Until Globe files a complaint, Smart’s going to milk those keywords for all they’ve got.

More thoughts on this:

• Smart is being smart, but can still be smarter. Smart’s Adword campaign could use some optimizing. I tried searching for related keyword combinations that searchers actually use and none of them were included in Smart’s PPC campaign. Remember, I have two pages that rank in the top 10 for “globe visibility” so I do have access to a list of actual referrer keywords. If Smart can shift part of its multi-million marketing budget to search marketing (and it should!) by widening its PPC keyword dictionary, running Adwords on the content network, site optimization for organic results) it could dominate the channel that could potentially be a better lead generation tool than traditional advertising channels: print, event sponsorships, TVC.
• Ad copy can be smarter. I like the brevity. But since the target market you want to attract would fall under the tech savvy/early adopter group, it should be ok to include more technical details about the service. A call to action is also needed.
• Ad landing page can still be improved. While key features of the Smart 3G service are a few clicks away from the homepage, you can also use the landing page to address specific questions prospects may have about mobile broadband and Globe Visibility to be specific. Have a sanitized comparative analysis of Smart 3G and a hypothetical Brand G. By highlighting the salient features of your service vs. the other brand, you can probably get more users to convert to your brand.
• Expand, expand, expand. Smart’s paid search campaign should include Yahoo! Search Marketing and MSN adCenter. Nobody’s advertising on those two channels, so Smart’s going to get first-to-market advantages (high visibility, low cost).

Now if only Smart and Globe brand managers were actually reading this entry. Like most traditional brand managers in the Philippines, they’re just not into online reputation management.