This comes up a lot, so I would like to throw this out for clarification. We have a client, a sunglasses manufacture who is about to sell web-direct, who's distinction is a NASA patent license on a gold film on his lenses that blocks 100% of the UV. He has complained to us about other manufacturers using his trade name in their key words (including Oakley!) and now that he is going to sell direct, wants to know why we can't do the same thing-- use Bolle, Ray Ban, etc. Is this Google legal, marginally legal, or a capital offense?

Thanks,

Ron and Jean Finley

Is he going to be selling those brands? If not then I would not use them. Keywords are not given that much weight by search engines anymore since as you have pointed out anything can be used in them. What counts most is the content of the site itself. It is best to use keywords that actually show up often in the content of the site or page they are on.