I know that Google AdWords allows and disallows use of competitive trademark terms in AdWords however I'm wondering if there have been any recent updates. For example, can Ford buy General Motors type trademarked / branded keywords or is that against the rules? One cannot use Ford in an adwords ad purchased by GM to sell GM products, right? Is there a clear and RECENT statement somewhere on the web that clarifies all this? I also know there was a recent 2010 ruling in Europe that seemed to turn this all on its head - does that also apply to US advertisers? Thanks!
Trademarks and Adwords: You can bid on any trademark keyword. There's nothing that prevents Ford in your example to bid on "gm cars" or any other keyword with GM or its variations. What you cannot do is have the trademark in your ad title or description lines. This supposes that the trademark owner has put in a request to Google. You see, just because a name is a trademark, Google doesn't know. They have to be told to prevent trademarks not to show in ads by the owner. For example, my company Lucid Web Marketing is my trademark. Anyone can bid on that keyword. Anyone can have it in their ad too because I haven't put in a request to Google. It's a relatively small niche, nobody knows me and nobody is going to use it in their ad, unlike a big company like Ford. But say that my dream of becoming the world's Microsoft for pay per click management services comes true and I don't want people to use my trademark in their ads, I'd put in a request to Google. Any existing ads violating the policy would now be disapproved. They could still bid on the term however and there's nothing I can do about it. Note that there could be exemptions. If I had franchises for example and allowing them to use Adwords, I would exempt them from the rule. The franchisees would simply show proof of me allowing them to use my trademark in their ads.
I'm not exactly sure of the answer to your question but I get the same trouble. I do Ad Words for a car company. I can use Ford in my Ads, the ones I cant use is renault and citroen so then I just get around it by mis-spelling it or just putting in the model name in the ad and not the make.