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Chapter 4  E‑environment

B Using competitor names and trademarks in  meta-  tags (for search engine 

optimisation)

 Meta-  tags are used to market websites by enabling them to appear more prominently in 

search engines as part of search engine optimisation (SEO) (see Chapter 9). Some companies 

have tried putting a competitor company name within the  meta-  tags. Case law has found 

against companies that have used this approach. Privacy law for email marketing was consid-

ered in the previous section.

C  Using competitor names and trademarks in  pay-  per-  click advertising

A similar approach can potentially be used in 

 pay-  per-  click  search  marketing

 (see 

Chapter 9) to advertise on competitors’ names and trademarks. For example, if a search user 

types ‘Dell laptop’, can an advertiser bid to place an ad offering an ‘HP laptop’? There is less 

case law in this area and differing findings have occurred in the US and France.