Not just any words...search words:

Geico doesn't mind you Googling Geico, but when you do, it wants Google to tell you about Geico, not Allstate or AIG.

This is the crux of a lawsuit going to trial today in Virginia pitting the car insurer, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, against the search engine that says it wants to organize the world's information, information on car insurance included.

Geico sued Google in May claiming trademark infringement. The insurer says Google links ads from Geico's rivals to searches for "Geico" itself. This sending of Geico hunters to destinations apart from Geico hurts Geico, Geico says. But Google says what it does is perfectly legal, a form of "fair use" that does not violate Geico's intellectual property. It says that Geico may own Geico, but the word "Geico" is up for grabs.

This form of fair use is big business for Google. It makes the bulk of its revenue, which was $806 million in the third quarter, from selling ads that are targeted to search results. Thus, a search for "Geico" leads to Geico on the left side of the screen, but on the right side, there are "sponsored links" to AIGauto.com, onlinemarts.com and cheapercarinsurance.com. Google went public in August, raising $1.67 billion and its stock has soared since then.

If I were Google and should Geico go on to win this lawsuit, I would definitely protect myself from further damages by modifying my search engine to ignore the word 'geico'. Should some person seeking car insurance enter 'geico' as their search term, they would then recieve the following results:

Your search - Geico - did not match any documents.
No pages were found containing "Geico".

Suggestions:

- Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
- Try different keywords.
- Try more general keywords.

Also, you can try Google Answers for expert help with your search.

And to be perfectly honest, I'm not a bit surprised that there has been no run on advertising containing 'King of Fools'. If my competitors do not fear me, they at least fear the Royal Legal Team (RLT).