Internet search engines are unquestionably big business. Google broke into the top 20 strongest brands in the world last year according to Business Week, and its name has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary as a verb. Its market capitalization, even after falling from its highs, is still in excess of $150 billion, which also generally places it in the top 20 US companies. For such a well-funded and well-known company, Google's revenues are relatively small, not even in the top 100 among US companies. It did, however report revenues of more than $18 billion in 2007. Given that "googling" is free, one might wonder where that revenue comes from. The answer is that almost all of it comes from the sale of online advertising in various forms. Lately this business model has been under attack from companies that argue that Google and other search engines are trading on their business goodwill by "selling" their trademarked names as advertising keywords. Google has responded that it is not selling trademarks, it is selling advertising placement. Consider the following examples, which came up recently in an argument in the Second Circuit: First, the makers of Advil approach a drugstore chain and pay for the right to have their product placed at the "endcap" of the pain reliever section-near their competitors, but more prominently placed. Second, the makers of Advil approach the same drugstore and pay for the right to have their product placed on shelves marked with a large sign that says "Aleve" (the trademarked name of a competitor). The former is permissible, the latter arguably is not.
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