Chicago spa owner says competitor used her company's name in Google ad keywords, confusing customers

CHICAGO (WLS) -- We all Google our favorite businesses. And, you may have noticed the names of other businesses popping up above or at times in place of the one you searched.

This is called "conquest advertising."

You may not have heard of conquest advertising, since it is relatively new. One local small business told the ABC7 I-Team that one of her competitors was using this marketing and advertising strategy, and it confused her customers.

"It felt like a violation you know, a violation to all of us," Therese Murray said.

Murray owns Luxura Med Spa in the South Loop, with other locations in the Gold Coast and Lakeview. She said what happened to her business is a warning for all consumers when searching online.

"I saw an ad that said 'Luxura Med Spa, best Med Spa in Chicago,' and that just didn't ring a bell for an ad that we were running. So, then, when I went and looked to the ad more closely, I saw that the web link was Innovative MedSpa," Murray said.

When she and her customers typed words like "medspa," "luxura" or "innovative" in to Google's search bar, they got this: Murray's business name, "Luxura Med Spa," appearing underneath a link for "Innovative MedSpa."

This is known as conquest advertising, when companies use "search engine marketing," or keywords of a competitor's brand, to get their link to appear higher up on Google.

"So, they were actually using our name and paid ads. And, it was confusing my customers. My clients, who are patients, were trying to get through to me, and they're calling Innovative."

Murray said she complained to Google by filling out a form, and she called Innovative MedSpa.

She said the search snafu eventually stopped. Innovative MedSpa told the I-Team that a third party does its google marketing. It also said, "using dynamic keyword insertion.is common practice, and even recommended by Google, as it tailors results to appear in the way that the person searched."

Innovative said the ad in question ended several weeks ago, and that it will not be reinstate, adding, "we are a local, independently owned business as well, so we do not want there to be any confusion or misunderstanding."

Google said it does not restrict the use of trademarks as keywords in search results. The company said it's goal is to provide users with the most relevant information. That is done google says by maximizing the choice of keywords for results.