BORDERS GROUP INC. (BGP) News

PARIS, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) said Wednesday it will shift advertising policies in most of Europe, allowing advertisers to use brand names as part of their search codes.

The change means an advertiser can use a name like Prada as part of its identifying code, so that searches on Google are directed to the advertiser -- or a retail store carrying the brand.

The move applies to words that may be trademarked -- the name Prada, for example, The New York Times reported.

The change matches Google's policy in Europe as a whole with the policy already in effect in Great Britain, Ireland and the United States.

The shift means trademark owners will need to be ever more vigilant about misuse of their trademarks. Google said it will still entertain complaints from trademark owners about questionable uses of brand names.

Big-name companies had argued that overuse of their names would dilute the value of their brands.

Google's shift "will come as a blow to rights holders … over policing content in a challenging online environment," said Dominic Batchelor, a corporate partner in a law firm in London.

"The onus will be on rights holders to monitor and assert their rights," he said.

CHICAGO, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- The purchase of Tribune Co. in 2007 went forward partly because participants feared backing out would lead to lawsuits, court papers filed in Chicago said.

Court examiner Kenneth Klee's report filed in the company's bankruptcy case said the two-part deal grew increasingly questionable, but went forward, anyway.

As evidence began to mount up that Tribune Co. was in losing advertising revenue, a group headed by real estate mogul Sam Zell pressed forward, taking on $13 billion of debt in the process.

The deal was structured in two parts. By the time the second part of the deal was underway, banks and Zell were increasingly concerned, but neither backed out, The Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.

The deal hinged on a company assessment produced by a valuation firm, Valuation Research, which provided a too-rosy assessment, the court examiner said.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. bookseller Borders Group's (NYSE:BGP) WiFi advertising deal with JiWire is an attempt to make its 500 retail outlets more relevant, a market analyst said.

The Detroit News quoted Michael Norris, a trade analyst at Simba Information, as saying WiFi at Borders stores is part of an ongoing effort "to make the physical store matter."

The retailer "is doing what it can to make the stores destinations. The feeling is if they go there for this, they'll stay for that," he said.

Borders would not comment on the deal with the San Francisco advertising firm that allows advertisers to target a defined audience that JiWire called, generally, a "cafe footprint."

The breakdown for that is 23 percent students and 66 percent in the 25-49 age bracket. Thirty-four percent of consumers in the "cafe footprint" come from homes with incomes of more than $100,000, said David Staas, JiWire's senior vice president of marketing.