Burning Man "Sponsored Site" returned by MSN searc

Tristan · Post by **Tristan** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:21 pm

If you type-in "burning man" in the address bar of Internet Explorer, you will get this page:

http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?srch ... urning+man

Interestingly the Burning Man "Sponsored Site" at the top is in fact an ad for the commercial site www.gotorenotahoe.com which belongs to RGJ, the Reno Gazette Journal.

Apparently they use Burning Man to advertize their site. Interesting... I wonder if that's allowed by the BMORG?

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 9:01 am

Probably not. Why don't you email them the link so they can act on it?

Rob the Wop · Post by **Rob the Wop** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 10:16 am

Personally, I don't see an issue with the tourism board of an area listing events. The website lists the "Hot August Nights" along with other local festivals. Are they using BM to sell a product?

Err... kind of. They are selling the idea of visiting the Reno area itself. So they are not really selling a specific product using BM's name.

Yes, they are owned by the Reno-Gazzette. That is probably more out of convenience so that the local city council doesn't have to deal with running a website.

I wouldn't get my knickers in a bunch on this one. After all, we are basically allowed to use land from the local federal offices and county offices. If the locals want to list BM on their tourism site- so be it. This run into either grin and bear it- or bite the hand that feeds.

brotherjohn · Post by **brotherjohn** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 1:12 pm

I'm not aware of any clear law on the use of trademarks in sponsored links, though that seems counterintuitive. Try typing in "Pepsi" for the same kind of results.

falk · Post by **falk** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 9:17 pm

This was settled in court a few months ago. Geico's compettitors had been buying "geico" as a search term in adwords on Google and Yahoo. The idea was that someone searching for insurance might want to see what the competition had to offer too. Geico didn't like that, of course.

Courts ruled against Geico in the U.S.. I'm told the decision went the other way in France.

Bottom line: I don't really see what's wrong if someone searching for "burning man" should learn about what else is available in the area.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/15 ... mark_case/

Tristan · Post by **Tristan** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 9:35 pm

Interestingly, a search of "burning man" on google returns another sponsored link:

"Burning Man 2005 Photos" that points to http://www.weschan.com , the private website of a photographer named Wesley Chan .

This guy forks money to google each time you click on his sponsored Burning Man link on the "burning man" google search.

Interesting way to self-promote

Personally I prefer just sending my photos to the BM gallery http://images.burningman.com !

-- Tristan - www.playa-dust.com