Commission Junction to Protect Advertisers' Keywords

Jason Dowdell subbing in at Search Engine Lowdown writes: "CJ sent an email out today to it's publishers letting them know about a "new keyword tool" they've developed to ... show you which keywords their advertisers don't want you to use.... It's interesting that they're protecting their advertisers in this way but I'm wondering how well the first law suit by a CJ advertiser is going to hold up in court over the use of a generic keyword phrase."

Here's what's going on right from the horse's (CJ's) mouth:

What are the keyword rules?

Protected Keywords: Keywords that the advertiser does not allow publishers to use in search marketing campaigns.

Recommended Keywords: Keywords that the advertiser recommends using in search marketing campaigns.

Non-compete Keywords: Keywords that the advertiser may be using in their own search marketing efforts and for which publishers should not intentionally outbid them.

Kinda conflicts with Google'e new trademark TOS, but is an area of the law very much up for grabs at this point. No doubt that such a case would prove interesting, unfortunately, I believe that the affilliate advertisers contract with CJ will trump any unresolved trademark law issues.