Prince Albert florist says sponsored ad used her business name without permission

A Prince Albert florist says a sponsored result on Google has used her business’ name as a keyword without permission. Jasmine Pelletier reports.

Stacy Coburn is the co-owner of a Prince Albert flower shop called Scentiments Floral Ltd.

She says a sponsored ad was brought to her attention in December by customers who had ordered from a different store by mistake.

“If this continues and we’re going to have no other choice but to pursue it legally, which, I mean, I would prefer not to do,” Coburn told CTV. “It’s a simple request. They just simply have to stop using my name.”

She says customers who performed a Google search for “Scentiments Floral” were coming up with a sponsored result with Scentiments Floral in the headline, but the link brought customers to the website for Burkitt’s Floral, another florist in Prince Albert.

Coburn says she’s been in touch with Google about the ad.

“Google has told me that if they had chosen the word ‘sentiment,’ it would have been the incorrect spelling of Scentiments, because my business name has a unique spelling behind it, where we’ve put a ‘C’ behind the ‘S’ for ‘scent.’”

• Get the latest news from Saskatoon, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Burkitt’s Floral is partnered with a Canadian company called Bloomex and at the time of publication, was linked as the Prince Albert partner on the Bloomex website.

Bloomex’s director of retail says Google does not allow ads that infringe on trademarks and that trademark owners can file complaints directly with the company.

“Even if our store’s ad appears when someone searches a generic phrase such as “send sentiments floral” or “floral sentiments,” the ad clearly identifies Burkitt’s Floral as the advertiser. Our business name and website URL (burkittsfloral.ca) are visible in the sponsored listing, and once a customer clicks through, it is clear they are on Burkitt’s Floral’s website, not any other florist’s," Bloomex’s director of retail said in a statement.

“We therefore do not see how a customer on our website, with our name and branding plainly displayed, could reasonably believe they are ordering from a different business.”

Marketing expert Bruce Winder says the best way for consumers to make sure they’re on the right website is to look beyond sponsored results.

“That’s where you know someone’s paying,” said Winder. “If you go below the sponsored links that that’s where the organic search comes in, and that’s where you can really look at potentially who’s the most popular out there with other consumers or the highest rated or other factors.”

Coburn says the ad is not currently running and she hopes it won’t come up and cause any confusion for customers.