Google has joined the list of companies opposing the law which attempts to regulate keyword bidding.

The new law would ban companies from bidding to use rivals' names as triggers for ads that appear during searches.

Oddly, Google, a company which is in the information gathering business, failed to become aware of the law until after the Utah legislature unanimously passed it. Identified as the Trademark Protection Act, Utah Governor Jon Huntsman's staff told the Associated Press that no one objected to the law before he signed it.

How did Google and others affected by this law miss the chance to fight it before it passed? No one seems to know for sure, but somehow this law managed to slip under the radar and now poses a threat to Google, and other search engines’, bottom line.

A Google spokesman told the The Salt Lake Tribune, "This law hurts consumers, violates free speech, and is inconsistent with both established U.S. trademark law and our capitalist system."

To be fair, the law received little press attention before it was passed.

Now Google and others might end up challenging the law in court. As a guy who still occasionally practices law, I can tell you there's a very good chance the law will be struck down.

But in the meantime, it's set to take effect on June 30.

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