My distributor is running ads using my brand name. What do I do?
Direct Answer
A distributor bidding on your brand as a keyword is not, by itself, a policy violation: Google Ads allows any advertiser to bid on any trademark term. What can be restricted is what appears in the ad text, and only after the trademark owner files a complaint through the process described in Google Ads Help. Without that complaint on file, the account team has no basis to act, and the auction keeps treating your own reseller as one more competitor for your name.
The auction does not distinguish partner from stranger
Google Ads treats a trademark as text, not as a relationship. According to Google Ads Help, a trademark can be used as a keyword by any advertiser, including a reseller, a competitor, or a review site — the platform does not check whether the bidder has a contract with the brand owner. That is why a distributor with a healthy relationship with the manufacturer can, without any bad intention, end up bidding on the exact same branded terms the manufacturer is also bidding on.
The distinction Google Ads does enforce is narrower: what shows up in the visible ad text. The trademark owner can file a complaint asking Google to restrict use of the term in ad copy, and Google Ads Help states that, once accepted, that restriction applies going forward. It does not remove the distributor from the auction — it removes the brand name from what the distributor is allowed to write in the headline.
Three moves, in the order that gives you leverage
Sequence for a Branded-Auction Dispute
Not every distributor in your auction is a threat
Roberto Wydra, founder of RudekWydra, argues that the trademark complaint should be reserved for cases where the distributor page competes for the same buyer decision the manufacturer wants to own — price comparison, direct purchase, a different application entirely. A distributor page that helps a buyer find local stock or lead time is closer to an extension of the manufacturer than to a competitor, and restricting it can cost more in channel relationship than it saves in cost per click.
The practical test is what the distributor page does with the click, not the fact that it bid on the term: check whether it sends the buyer toward a purchase that benefits the whole channel, or away from the manufacturer entirely.
FAQ
My distributor is running ads using my brand name. What do I do?
Is it against Google Ads policy for a distributor to bid on the manufacturer's brand name?
How do I file a trademark complaint with Google Ads?
Does the complaint remove the distributor from the auction?
Should I always restrict my distributors from bidding on my brand?
Can a competitor also bid on my brand name, not just a distributor?
What should I check before opening a complaint against a distributor?
Does this problem only happen with distributors, or with marketplaces too?
Find out who else is bidding on your name
A branded-auction audit maps every advertiser competing for your own brand terms, before you decide whether to file a complaint or negotiate a channel rule.