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Stop Googling things, says Google

Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:43 am
by JayBird
Will Head, vnunet.com 14 Aug 2006

Google has issued letters to media organisations asking them to refrain from using its name as a verb.

In order to "protect its trademark", and prevent it becoming a generic term, the search firm has sent letters to publishers advising them on its proper use.Google's letter includes helpful examples of appropriate and inappropriate use of the company's trademark.For example: 'I used Google to check out that guy I met at the party' is fine, but 'I googled that hottie' is not.Similarly, it's OK to say: 'He ego-surfs on Google to see if he's listed in the results' but not 'He googles himself.'

The key distinction is whether Google is used to describe searching in a general, non-specific sense.

"With constant generic use, trademarks can lose their special status and their proper name capitalisation," said Google in the letter.

"It has happened to once-trademarked products including yo-yo, trampoline and nylon. Trademark lawyers call it 'genericide'.

"Google is a trademark identifying Google Inc's search technology and services. We know Google is fun to say, and of course it is great fun to use.

"And though we are flattered that people like our name, it is also our company's chief commercial asset. We want to ensure that people use it in a way that preserves its meaning and integrity."

Google was added as a verb to the Merriam-Webster dictionary at the beginning of last month with the definition: 'To use the Google search engine to obtain information about [a person or thing] on the world wide web.'

http://www.itweek.co.uk/vnunet/news/216 ... ngs-google

Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:49 am
by Weirdan
Too late... it's not something they could stop.

Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:01 am
by daedalus__
<3 Google.

ohps i mean

<3 googling

Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:33 am
by RobertGonzalez
Dude, I think Google was added to the latest edition of the Webster's dictionary... as a verb. I'mnot sure how they can prevent. In fact, I feel like googling weird trademark request.

I am of to google-ize the world!

Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:37 am
by Oren
Weirdan wrote:Too late... it's not something they could stop.
Yeah, I believe it's too late. Even if they could prevent organizations from doing so, they can't stop individuals from saying things like: "Google it".

Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:37 am
by daedalus__
That's like trying to stop me from smoking cigarettes!

</joke>

Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:46 am
by CoderGoblin
Lets face it given the the choice of "Use the Google search engine" or simply "Google for it" which would anybody say.

They should be proud to achieve what Biro did for the ballpoint pen.

Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:49 am
by Weirdan
Biro? Never heard of that.

Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:00 am
by Chris Corbyn
It's not really the same as Yo-Yo or Hoover since using "google" as a verb is not generic enough that you'd use Yahoo! to carry out the action. It's a bit of a special case since the verb is directly associated with the search engine itself. Yo-Yo became a generic term since the object itself was just a Yo-Yo regardless of who made it. I don't think anybody could realistically create a new search engine and call it a "Google". It's an intersting point though... and I like the term Genericide :)