Yahoo! modifies keyword policy

Interesting move by Yahoo!: The company has notified to some advertisers that they will no longer be allowed to bid on competitors' trademarked keywords. It is reported that this new policy aims at "protecting the trademark owner from competitors who "hijack" the keyword with their own ads."

In the same time, Yahoo! will now let people register usernames that include the word "allah" (CNET News). In a statement about its new policy and the reasons for the original ban, Yahoo! said :

A small number of people registered for IDs using specific terms with the sole purpose of promoting hate, and then used those IDs to post content that was harmful or threatening to others, thus violating Yahoo's Terms of Service" ... "'Allah' was one word being used for these purposes, with instances tied to defamatory language. We took steps to help protect our users by prohibiting use of the term in Yahoo usernames. We recently re-evaluated the term 'Allah,' and users can now register for IDs with this word because it is no longer a significant target for abuse."