Wis. firm sues rival over search-engine keywords
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A person searching online for a specific Wisconsin law firm will likely see a rival's sponsored link at the top of the list. Now the firm is accusing its rival of violating privacy laws.
The rival apparently paid for certain keywords to boost its ranking on search engines such as Google and Bing. It's a common business tactic, although competitors sometimes sue based on trademark law. This might be the first time a party has challenged the tactic as a privacy violation.
Habush, Habush & Rottier is one of Wisconsin's largest law firms. But search for 'Habush Rottier' and a sponsored link for Cannon & Dunphy attorneys shows up, just above the link for Habush's site.
Cannon didn't immediately return a message Thursday.
Nov 19, 2009 at 10:13 p.m.
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As my 6-year-old niece would say, SwissChick.... oh, but it is really so!
Crazy world!!
Nov 19, 2009 at 8:53 p.m.
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DiGriz: LOL, you're killing me.
Wait...killing me? Lawyers? Lawsuits? Hmmmm! One call...that's all.
Nov 19, 2009 at 8:02 p.m.
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Carlitosway- Yes it is Obama's fault. With the proposed passing of healthcare reform the days of medical lawsuits are over. Hence, lawyers suing lawyers. Oh happy day...
Nov 19, 2009 at 6:29 p.m.
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Not Obama's
Nov 19, 2009 at 6:28 p.m.
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It's HA BUSHES fault
Nov 19, 2009 at 6:06 p.m.
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Well, if Habush Habush & Rottier spent more money on SEO, they wouldn't have this problem. Obviously the other firm has done more work with web development.
Nov 19, 2009 at 3:51 p.m.
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It used to be Habush, Habush & Davis. Then it was Habush, Habush, Davis & Rottier. Now it is Habush, Habush & Rottier. Apparently Davis didn't like Rottier....
Nov 19, 2009 at 2:15 p.m.
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With Google, they're talking about AdWords, which appear either in a column to the right or above the search results, depending on what placement the buyer pays for. Example here:
http://www.ukppcmanagement.co.uk/
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The practice here is called "keyword hijacking" (among others) and is a legitimate concern for any business dependent on search-engine customer generation. I can see an argument under trademark law, but I'm not entirely sure about this privacy angle.
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/10/2...
.
Still, hey, who doesn't like a story about lawyers suing other lawyers?
Nov 19, 2009 at 2:10 p.m.
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Probably not enough people paying retainer fees in today's economy. Land sharks gotta eat too, ya know, but it's hard to feel sympathy for a law firm. Perhaps this will start a trend and lawyers will go into a feeding frenzy suing each other over any issue they can find.
Some law firms change their names as frequently as the banks do. I remember all those Habush, Habush and Davis TV ads. I can't really work up any feelings of familiarity for Habush, Habush and Rottier.
Nov 19, 2009 at 1:57 p.m.
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I guess I started something.
Nov 19, 2009 at 1:18 p.m.
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What part of the internet promotes privacy? Especially when it has to do with Wisconsin! I'm sure some has already CCAP'd Habush, Habush and Rorier by now.
Nov 19, 2009 at 12:33 p.m.
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@lost_city and @devilsadvocate:
The the article is talking about the Paid Ads and not the organic natural listings. Currently there are no paid ads shown for this search term because they were probably taken down by Google at the request of Habush et al
Previously if a search was down with the term mentioned above it would have shown a sponsored add for Cannon & Dunphy
I hope this helps
Nov 19, 2009 at 12:30 p.m.
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This is just hilarious. Nothing better than a Lawyer suing another Lawyer.
However, I think they got themselves into a bigger mess.
If you search on Google for the term mentioned in the article above, about half of the results talk about this suit.
If their intention was to keep a low profile and not draw attention to their competition, I think that strategically this was a poor decision.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c...
Nov 19, 2009 at 12:23 p.m.
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Tried it on google, comes up Habush.com first also. Lawyers...
Nov 19, 2009 at 12:14 p.m.
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I just searched Habush Rottier as well as Habush Habush & Rottier on BING both went directly to Habush.com as the first entry. I see no problem worth suing over.
Nov 19, 2009 at 11:16 a.m.
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crunch and munch, by your name you probably have! LOL
Nov 19, 2009 at 11:10 a.m.
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lawyers suing lawyers and then the same lawyers will sue someone to pay there legal fees.
Nov 19, 2009 at 10:38 a.m.
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I tried it. Google is fine, but when I "binged" it, Cannon & Dunphy came up first.
.
Apparently, I don't have much to do today. :)
Nov 19, 2009 at 10:35 a.m.
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Oh, boy - lawyers suing lawyers. Say it isn't so.
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