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Google Warns Against Using Its Name as VerbPosted on Aug 14, 2006
The search engine company, which tries to affect an air of youthful nonconformity, legally admonished the Washington Post for using the word “google” as a generic verb to describe Internet search in general. Online expert Steve Rubel calls it “one of the worst PR moves in history.”
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By Tenderfoot, August 16, 2006 at 2:04 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
This is really no big deal. Companies routinely send out such form letters to protect their trademarks. You’ll also see ads that tell you, for example, that Xerox should not be used to mean “photocopy.” They’re designed to serve as evidence in court if there’s ever a challenge to the trademark. The word Aspirin, for example, was trademarked by Bayer, but the company failed to protect the trademark in the United States, so it has become generic. (It’s still a trademark in other countries.) Google is trying to prevent the word from going generic. If they didn’t, you’d have people saying things like “I googled it on Ask.com.”
Report thisBy Liz, August 14, 2006 at 11:26 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
but it’s good publicity! Talk about putting one’s foot in ones mouth. That’s mean of google to do that. when people like idolize them in a way and they say “googling” instead of web searching, since it’s easier to say! Geez google.
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