Google in Australia has just banned companies from using Apple trade names in the body of their Google ads. This has been greated with a storm of protest, as how can a legitimate Apple certified retailer sell an iPod if they can’t call it that!
From what I have seen this would not stop these companies advertising against the Apple keyword, just from using Apple brand names in their ads. My feeling is that Apple is looking to defend is quality image and as you know Google ads that work usually imply some type of discount, such as “cheap Apple computers”, “Cheap iPods” etc. Apple are probably seeing this as undermining the quality of their products by marking them as cheap (they may also be defending their rrp)
I have to say I think they have probably done the only thing they could to remove the “cheap”, but it really hasn’t hit the mark. I have had this discussion with people at my work and they will not use the word “cheap” in relation to our products, preferring ‘cost effective’ or some such term which actually means nothing to anyone (cost effective iPod anyone?).
I would be interested in getting feedback on the term cheap. In my opinion if you apply it to a product that is of high quality, it simply infers a reduced price. What do you think?