Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

Overture has settled a trade mark action brought against it and rival search engine Google over the sale of the terms "Geico" and "Geico Direct" in keyword advertising, according to a report by MediaPost. The case against Google continues.

Insurance firm Geico sued the two companies in May over the sale of its registered trade marks as a sponsored search term.

Keyword advertising is a large source of revenue for search engines. It works by allowing advertisers to sponsor particular search terms so that, for a fee, whenever that term is searched the advertiser's link will appear next to the search results.

Trade mark holders have filed several actions against search engines offering the service.

According to a MediaPost report, Overture has settled on terms that do not require the Yahoo! subsidiary to change its practices. Google's case, however, is scheduled for a court hearing on 13th December.

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