Senior Google executives have publicly expressed interest in a potential advertising partnership with search engine rival Yahoo.
The comments from chief executive Eric Schmidt and co-founder Sergey Brin follow a two-week shared advertising trial which many analysts saw as an attempt to derail Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo.
The two-week test saw Google supplying selective advertisements served to Yahoo search engine users.
Google has revised its UK trademark protection policy to allow non-trademark owners to bid on trademarked terms within AdWords..
Restrictions will still apply to trademarks included within the text of the advertisement.
The change, which takes effect on 5 May, means that non-trademark owners will be able to place paid search ads in Google’s UK search results pages when users search for trademarked terms and brand names.
Previously if someone was searching using a trademarked name, the site of that trademark owner would appear at the top of the search results and competitors would not be listed.
The new policy means that rival sites will be allowed to appear in sponsored search results when users query a specific brand or company name.
Several companies, including Lastminute.com and Autotrader, have expressed outrage over the move, and some are considering legal action against Google.
Google has responded by saying that it made the changes in order to improve its service to users, and not to fleece advertisers.