Behavioral And Keyword-Triggered Ads — Legal Update For Hot-Button Internet Advertising Issues

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Behavioral And Keyword-Triggered Ads — Legal Update For Hot-Button Internet Advertising Issues

Copyright © 2009 Chip Cooper

Safire’s New Political Dictionary defines “hot-button” as follows: word or issue that ignites anger, fear, enthusiasm, or other passionate response.

Safire’s definition fits two Internet advertising issues – behavioral and keyword ads – perfectly. Two developments in the first few months of 2009 show how these hot-button issues are developing, and how they may ultimately impact Internet advertising in a fundamental way.

Behavioral Advertising

Relevance is a key concept in any advertising. With it, advertisers’ messages hit home with purchasers, and conversions increase. Without it, advertisers’ messages are wasted on blind eyes and deaf ears.

Behavioral ads take Internet advertising to a new level of relevancy. Behavioral technology tracks a user’s behavior on the Web, including sites visited, length of visits, content read, and searches made. All of this data is then analyzed and a behavioral pattern is produced for a user which classifies that user by his or her online demographic. Behavioral ad networks then serve targeted ads that are relevant to that online demographic.

Recent announcements by Google (with its AdSense network) and Facebook that they will begin serving behavioral ads has triggered increased interest in related privacy issues. The concerns: the lack of transparency regarding collection practices and the risk of disclosure of the information collected, particularly sensitive information.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has shown interest in privacy issues related to behavioral ads even before the announcements by Google and Facebook. In November 2007, the FTC conducted a town hall discussion to discuss privacy issues raised by online behavioral advertising. Afterward, the FTC developed proposed principles based on comments received at the town hall discussions.

In February 2009, the FTC issued a staff report entitled “Self-Regulatory Principles For Online Behavioral Advertising” (Principles). The Principles are designed to encourage industry self regulation for the protection of consumer privacy in online advertising activities.

The new development for behavioral ads is that – if three U.S. Congressmen have their way – behavioral ads will move from self-regulation to regulation by a federal statute.

It’s interesting to note that the legislative effort is bi-partisan. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R.-Fla.), Rep. Rick Boucher (D.-Va.) and Rep. Joe Barton (R.-Texas) are working to present a bill to Congress that would regulate behavioral ads. Boucher has stated that websites participating in behavioral ads should be required to obtain explicit permission from a user, plus the requirement to disclose how they collect and use data.

Keyword Advertising

In the last four years or so, cases involving keyword-triggered ads have been hotly litigated. The dispute is now a familiar one — whether a search engine such as Google should permit pay-per-click advertisers to use keywords that are also a competitor’s trademarks for purposes of triggering their ads on a search results page.

Legal issues arise when a competitor purchases a competitor’s trademark as a keyword. The Lanham Act (Federal Trademark Act) prohibits any:

* “use in commerce”, and

* “likelihood of confusion”.

In order to prevail, a plaintiff must satisfy two of the foregoing elements.

The legal battle has focused on the “use in commerce” issue, with courts being hopelessly divided on the issue. Courts finding that keyword-triggered ads are a “use in commerce” favor plaintiffs (the trademark owners). Conversely, courts finding that keyword-triggered ads are not a “use in commerce” favor the defendants (the advertisers – search engines and their advertiser customers).

Until April 3, 2009, the 2nd Circuit (Connecticut, New York, and Vermont) has held that use of a trademark in keyword-triggered ads, provided the trademark is internal and not visible, does not amount to “use in commerce” – thereby favoring defendant-advertisers.

On April 3, 2009, the 2nd Circuit reversed its position on the “use in commerce” issue. In the case of Rescuecom v. Google, the 2nd Circuit ruled on a Motion to Dismiss that Google’s recommendation and sale of Rescuecom’s trademark to competing advertisers amounted to a “use in commerce”. Although this decision went against Google, Google may still prevail in the case if the court finds later that there is no likelihood of confusion.

It’s interesting to note that the majority of Circuit Courts have previously held that similar uses of a trademark amount to a “use in commerce”. Does the reversal by the 2nd Circuit signal a trend that could significantly favor trademark owners against advertisers and close the split among the Circuits? Possibly — and that’s why this decision is so important.

Conclusion

With the foregoing update, this is where we stand on the two hot-button issues of Internet advertising:

* behavioral advertising — although the status remains unchanged at present, there is federal regulation in the works that could impose significant privacy regulations in the near future; and * keyword-triggered ads — there’s still a significant split among the Circuits; however, the split has narrowed in favor of trademark owners due to the 2nd Circuit’s ruling in the Rescuecom v. Google case. The 2nd Circuit in its decision suggested that it would make sense for Congress to resolve this split with specific legislation in the future.

This article is provided for educational and informative purposes only. This information does not constitute legal advice, and should not be construed as such.

Meeting Legal Clients Where They Want to be Met, Online – With Internet Marketing

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Meeting Legal Clients Where They Want to be Met, Online – With Internet Marketing

Let’’s be honest. To many first time clients, the idea of visiting a lawyer may seem a bit like enjoying a root canal.

There is nothing fun about it. The client is almost always apprehensive and intimidated. They might like nothing more than to simply vanish. Sure, they have a legal issue they need to discuss, but for some reason the first visit to an attorney is always the hardest.

A law firm is intended to help victims and defend the defenseless yet consumers don”t go out of their way to look for one.

They will however look for legal advice on the Internet. This is where you must meet them.

When it comes to marketing your law firm; the use of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the best and most cost effective way to get your website noticed.

Maybe it’’s all the television shows that feature Hollywood actors as attorneys that convince the general public they are intimidating, but the truth is lawyers are simply everyday human beings who have homes and families along with a knowledge of the law. Their expertise can help clients through many difficult circumstances.

New clients are finding thousands of attorneys to handle their profitable cases online daily, and if you aren”t capitalizing on this potential – you can be making a devastating mistake. Getting them to click on your link is what Search Engine Optimization is all about. In essence you are competing with other law firms for the best rankings, when it comes to a very specific set of keywords or phrases. SEO is a marketing process that works to carve out a sizeable niche and allows your site to get noticed in areas your law firm specializes in.

The Internet is not a novelty that will simply wear off while life goes back to normal. In so many ways the online world has radically transformed the world we actually live in. You must connect with those who frequent cyberspace if you want your firm to succeed to the greatest degree possible.

Learn everything you can about optimizing your website and don”t be afraid to bring in specialists who can help grow your website into a premier online presence that can also catch the attention of search engines. The future of your practice will be more prosperous if you place focus into an online marketing campaign today!

Internet marketing doesn’t need to be frustrating experience if you are careful and ensure that you find a talented and high quality service provider. Once you locate a legal internet marketing company with proven success, begin your search engine marketing today! The faster you start, the easier it will be to succeed, since the rat race has begun – you can’t get left in the dust.

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How to Get Tons of Links – DIY for Legal Websites

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To put it simply, incoming links are food for your websites. Search engines evaluate your website primarily on this factor. Your ranking in search engine result pages would go up depending on the number and quality of incoming links to your website. And better organic search engine ranking simply means more visitors to your website and more business.There are some other on page factor that determine your ranking in SERP but if you do not get links there is almost no possibility that you would rank high.So how do you start getting tons of good quality links to your website?There is nothing like quality content. If you can generate and develop quality content, you would get lots of natural links. However, in the initial days it is tough to get lots of links depending on content alone. And if you run a commercial website like a law firm, it is often tough to get natural links. You need to be proactive at getting links.In the initial days you can start with directory submission. There are lots of good quality directories that offer free one way links. If you run an online law firm, search in Google or Yahoo for keywords like ‘law firm directory’ or ‘lawyer directory’ and you would get thousands of them. You can also submit your website in some general directories – all you need to do is to find out the most relevant category.Directory submission is an effective way to get your pages indexed in search engines in the initial days. You can also try article submission – simply write an article and submit them in different article directories. These article and directory submissions would also help you to gain some page rank (PR).When you gain some PR, you are ready to ask other webmasters in your niche for reciprocal links or mutual links. Search Google or Yahoo using your targeted keywords and communicate with the webmasters of those websites for links. You may call them over phone or just mail them a request for reciprocal link exchange.You can check the back links of your competitor’s website to find out who are linking to them. Search in yahoo [http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/] to find out the list of incoming links to your competitor’s website. Now, you can contact those websites to link to you.However, do not go for reciprocal links alone as search engines may track a pattern which may result into some kind of penalty.Another good way of link building is three way where website A will link to website B and website C would link to website A. Thus there would not be any direct reciprocation and this may go up to n way link building. This can be an effective way of link building if you can develop few complimentary websites to link to others in return to a link to your primary website. A good link building strategy is creating a mix of different types of links like one way, two way, n way, content based links, directories, targeted and non targeted anchor text etc. Whatever website marketing or SEO strategy you follow, make sure that things look natural for a lasting and sustainable improvement.

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What Is The Best Legal Email Blast Marketing Web Site?

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I am a real estate agent and want to market via internet without being labeled as SPAM. I want to send my ads out in large blasts.
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Legal Marketing Agency Offers Tips for Law Firms on Development of 2009 Marketing Budgets – Advises Against Cutting Corners

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With the uncertainty of the economy, legal marketing agency Beyond All Reasonable Doubt Marketing is advising law firms to take a serious look at their budgets. While marketing, advertising and public relations dollars frequently are cut to reduce expenses, marketing experts agree that a down economy is actually the time when marketing efforts should remain in place, and if anything, be enhanced.

“When other law firms reduce their spending and cut their marketing, they have less presence in the marketplace,” explains BARD Marketing founder and president, John Sailer. “This means the time is ripe for a savvy law firm to grab market share – to reach the audience that is still there but who is hearing from fewer of your competitors.”

When planning your law firm’s budget, you should start by identifying how much you want to spend. While there are no hard and fast rules across the different types and sizes of law firms, it makes sense to budget your marketing as a percentage of expected revenue. Several studies have pegged overall law firm marketing budgets to be between 2 percent and 3 percent, with leading firms spending 5 percent or more.

Second, prioritize your initiatives by looking at both costs and expected benefits. This is easy if you tracked your efforts in past years. Remember that some of the lower cost initiatives may bring strong value while some of the higher cost initiatives may bring very little value. With this said, it is imperative to track outcome of every initiative.

BARD Marketing is experienced in budgeting and planning for short- and long-term marketing and advertising plans, and enables law firms to achieve and track ROI for their marketing activities. For more information or to request a report on Yellow Page Advertising Costs and Effectiveness, please visit www.bardmarketing.

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I Will Be Teaching Seminars On How To Start A Web Design Business And Want To Stay Out Of Legal Trouble?

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I have 28 years experience in custom programming and web design work. My company is very successful. Now I want to start a national online series of seminars that will be quite expensive.
I know various state agencies have a hissy fit if someone like me uses words like “class” or “student”, etc. I am told that I need to use words like “seminar” and “trainee”, etc.
Since the “educational” community is so jealous of their territory, I am looking for advice on how to promote my new venture.
Of course I will run all this by my lawyer but am doing the prelimary work myself to save $200 an hour (his rate minus mine)
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New Websites Launched by Legal Marketing Agency Incorporate Digital Asset Optimization to Increase Competitive Internet Presence

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Palm Beach County, FL – It’s no secret that law firms who are successful in marketing themselves need an Internet presence, but recently, it’s become increasingly important to offer site visitors more than just basic content to maintain your place on the web and convert clicks to clients.

To be found on the web and have an effective Internet presence, firms need to do more than the basic search engine optimization—the time has come for digital asset optimization (DAO). With “digital asset” additions to their sites such as blogs, videos, online photo galleries and more, attorneys and law firms can compete on the web—regardless of the firm’s size.

“By focusing only on traditional Search Engine Optimization, law firms are missing opportunities to be found on the web,” said BARD Marketing president John Sailer. “Streaming videos, blogs, photos, press releases and other online content are being searched for, and most websites don’t account for these other media types. Remember, YouTube recently overtook Yahoo to become the second largest search engine behind Google. This trend is only going to grow.”

BARD Marketing recently launched a number of websites for leading law firms that feature these digital elements, which increase the effectiveness and usefulness of each site to the user. The sites include: Alpizar Law – Palm Bay, Florida; Edward M. Ricci, P.A. – West Palm Beach, Florida; and the Suskauer Law Firm – West Palm Beach, Florida.

Alpizar Law, a personal injury and insurance bad faith firm in Palm Bay, Florida, caters to a bilingual clientele, and providing only limited information in Spanish isn’t an option. To address this need, BARD Marketing created a mirror site to their English website, www.alpizarlaw.com[block]0[/block], in Spanish. The Spanish site utilizes the same web address and offers the same depth of information and content. As importantly, both the English language site and the Spanish language site offer custom created streaming videos to provide answers to common legal questions in video form.

Edward M. Ricci, P.A. launched a new site, located at www.edriccilaw.com that incorporates a Safety & Justice Blog that provides timely information to consumers on current topics, legislation and news in personal injury cases that affect the audience.

For the Suskauer Law Firm, a prominent criminal defense firm in West Palm Beach Florida, BARD developed a new website www.suskauerlaw.com[block]2[/block], with the YouTube generation in mind. The site features several multimedia capabilities, to support television, radio and print media coverage rather than just being a repository for page after page of copy.

BARD Marketing offers integrated marketing and advertising services, including website development. All services are designed to complement one another and form a structure of synchronous marketing efforts that collectively increase leads for law firms. BARD offers a no-cost, no-obligation review of current sites and promotional materials, and can share innovative strategic concepts, during this review.

To schedule your free consultation, call 561-637-2575. For more information about the services provide by Beyond All Reasonable Doubt (BARD) Marketing, please visit wwwbardmarketing.com.

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