Google’s coming under more fire from large advertisers over trademark issues, reports Emily Steel in the Wall Street Journal.  Watch for more automated trademark blacklists from Google and other major search providers.

 The problem is a tactic known as “piggybacking,” in which smaller advertisers use major players’ brand names, slogans or other trademarked words in the text of search ads to lure Web surfers to their own sites.

As a result, Google could face a backlash as it attempts to grab a bigger share of other advertising niches, including display advertising and video ads. Big advertisers say they may punish Google if they aren’t satisfied with the way the piggybacking dispute is dealt with. “This does play into our decision of overall spending — it has to,” says Michael Menis, vice president of global marketing services at InterContinental.

Adds John Gustafson, director of distribution and Internet strategy at Northwest Airlines: “If Google has an inability to help us resolve issues about abuses of our brand, that would impact our decision to participate in future forms of advertising.”

Filed under: Google, marketing, online advertising