Yahoo Sued for Advertising Placement

Yahoo is in the midst of staff reductions and trying to avoid another Microsoft take-over attempt. One of the last things it needs is a lawsuit, especially concerning advertising:

“American Airlines has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Yahoo claiming it is diverting business to the airline’s competitors by allowing them to purchase ads that appear next to American Airlines-related search results.”

link: American Airlines sues Yahoo over trademarked search ads

The greater implications of the suit is the means which the advertising is triggered. For example, there will be advertising appearing along with this article. The advertising is triggered by keywords. The detection process is completely automated. There is no human review of this article, with a subsequent decision on advertising. The advertising appears within seconds.

If this article was a promotional piece for an airline and competing advertising appears, would there be grounds for a lawsuit?

Catherine Forsythe