MAM
When Will Google Become Generic?
Today, there are hundreds of once highly protected famous name brands, which were backed by multi-million dollar promotional budgets, now commonly used in daily lingo as generic names, as it was their huge popularity that made them lose their trademark protection. So why is the use of famous trademarked names as ‘verbs’ in our daily language feared by the attorneys representing that mark? Now this calls for a closer look.
For example, when you open your fridge, have an aspirin, use a kleenex and watch the kids in spandex jumping the trampoline then go out rollerblading later you sit xeroxing then fedexing and have a granola or may be googling on the net. All these highlighted names are generic, and their respective owners try very hard to keep them unique by means of graphic logos for better identification.
Currently, the term, “to google”, is in Oxford English Dictionary with a lower case “g”. This is indicative that the word ‘to google’ has entered the English language as a word, and therefore, making it very difficult for the originators, Google™, to keep it exclusive for themselves. Today, anyone can manufacture a frigde, trampoline or a rollerblade, so does this mean that there will be googling devices and googling softwares, or google kits produced by others?
Now the giant of the search engine universe, Google flares up and warns media to back off from using its most powerful moniker, Google™ as a “verb”. This now calls for an even closer look.
First of all, it is all about our cultural transition surrounded by today’s Novo-Psycho-Cyber-Dependency-Behavior…i.e an uncontrollable and unstoppable compulsion disorder to become fully symbiotronically attached oneself to various access devices with the body, and to search the net for hidden secrets and hidden bargains in the farthest and darkest corners of the world. This cultural revolution and this cyber-dependency-behavior both embrace the centrality of ‘googlization’ as its main force. The popularity of Google™ is awesome, and soon, historians will refer to our current times as a Search-Craze-Era. Well done, Google …viva le search.
Like Netsurfing or E-Mail and many thousands of other brand names that became common generic terms, Google is now swimming in the same soup, and if you google today or talk about googling, watch out as you are seriously upsetting this monster search engine. To many, this may sound like free advertising, though in reality, this is a corporate nightmare – a code-red alert strikes the boardroom. Legal SWAT teams swing into action to protect their successful global brand, and an aggressive policing of corporate name usage kicks in. Who knows, with so much technology available, imagine, if you typed in an email: “honey, I just got tired of googling…” Bang.. a stern message will pop up on your screen lecturing you on generic name rules 101, or even better, your system will simply crash and only re-open after you fax a signed and dually notarized apology.
Normally, lawyers can issue fancy memos on embossed stationery designed to force people and media to always refer to a brand name as a registered trademark of the company. They also instruct their advertising and branding agencies to avoid making creative uses and plays on the name when it is used in commercials or general promotional copies of ads. If a name is too playful then it also quickly becomes adopted in the language as a word like rollerblade.
Right now, even on the google site itself, the use of the word ‘gooooooooogle’ to represent the number of results pages in more dilution of the mark and so are the weekly cartooning on their main page that can lead to becoming a folklore content. However, this is a long and a painful process and in the end, it is the public that decides as to when and how a name will become generic and when will it lose its trademark powers.
Fortunately, studies have shown that certain alpha-structures do not easily lend themselves to verbing. Despite their fame and popularity in daily language, these types of names survive over time and remain powerful corporate brands while enjoying a proprietary status. Some examples are Yahoo, Apple, Netscape, Telus, Microsoft, Sony, Rolex and Nintendo. Have you ever heard, “I Rolexed and realized I was late?” or, “Leave me alone, I’m Appling”? How about, “I just Nintendozed off,” or, “I was depressed and very Microsoftish”? Kindly let me know if you ever come across such “google de gook.”
As a result, finding great corporate name identities has become a very scientific process and is no longer a hand holding creative exercise. To most corporation naming is treated as last minute casual process led by some big ad agency. Naming is a black and white exercise and not to be confused with logos and graphic designs. Under The Laws of Corporate Naming, all such issues are explored in advance so that a brand name will be engineered for durability and survive the test of time. The days of accidental business naming are over.
Google has a big battle ahead of it, and the fights will take place on two fronts. Firstly, the company still has the best search engine to date, and as a result, acquired too much global attention too quickly so the name will get deeper into the language. Secondly, as a borrowed word from the mathematical section of the English dictionary, the word “google” does have an alpha-structure that easily lends itself to cute verbalization. In time, it appears to have all the necessary ingredients to become generic. Right now, Sir Isaac Newton is simply googlified.
MAM
India’s financial sector spent less on TV ads in 2025 but flooded the internet
Banks, insurers and lenders cut tv ads as digital jumps, LIC and Muthoot lead tv and Axis Bank tops online
MUMBAI: India’s banking, financial services and insurance sector, one of the most prolific advertisers in the country, delivered a split verdict on media in 2025. It spent less on television, held its nerve in print, turned up the volume on radio and deluged the internet with a ferocity that left every other medium looking pedestrian. The picture that emerges from TAM AdEx’s cross-media report for the BFSI sector is of an industry in transition, still wedded to the news bulletin but increasingly seduced by the algorithm.
Television: a retreat with caveats
TV ad volumes for the BFSI sector fell 16 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024, a sharp reversal after two years of consistent growth that had pushed volumes 16 per cent above 2021 levels by 2023 and a further 7 per cent higher by 2024. Within 2025 itself, the drop was concentrated in the middle of the year: the second and third quarters saw ad volumes slide 35 per cent each against the first quarter, with a partial recovery of 13 per cent in the fourth.
The retreat did not reshuffle the deck. Life insurance retained first place among TV categories with 19 per cent of ad volumes, mortgage loans held second with 16 per cent, and the top ten categories together accounted for 82 per cent of all BFSI television advertising. The dominance of news channels was equally pronounced: news claimed 68 per cent of ad volumes, general entertainment channels a distant 14 per cent and movies 12 per cent. Together, news and GEC captured 82 per cent of the sector’s television spend. News bulletins alone took 48 per cent of programme-genre volumes, with feature films second at 12 per cent. Prime time, between 6pm and 11pm, drew 34 per cent of ad volumes, followed by afternoon at 22 per cent and morning at 20 per cent. A full 82 per cent of all ads ran between 20 and 40 seconds.
Life Insurance Corporation of India was the sector’s biggest TV spender with 11 per cent of ad volumes. Muthoot Financial Enterprises came second with 9 per cent, followed by National Payments Corporation of India at 6 per cent, Tata AIG General Insurance at 5 per cent and State Bank of India at 5 per cent. The top ten advertisers together accounted for 51 per cent of total TV volumes. Three names were new to the top ten in 2025: Tata AIG General Insurance, IIFL Finance and Tata Capital. At brand level, Muthoot Finance Loan Against Gold led with 9 per cent share, Tata AIG Health Insurance entered the top ten for the first time, and the top ten brands together contributed 35 per cent of ad volumes.
Print: the long climb continues
Print told a different story. Ad space for the BFSI sector has grown every year since 2021, rising 16 per cent in 2022, 30 per cent in 2023, 51 per cent in 2024 and 64 per cent in 2025, all measured against a 2021 baseline. Within 2025, ad space was flat in the second quarter but surged 46 per cent in the third and 33 per cent in the fourth compared with the first. Life insurance led print categories with 21 per cent of ad space, followed by mutual funds and banking services and products at 13 per cent each, and corporate financial institutes at 11 per cent. The top ten categories together took 82 per cent of print ad space. LIC led print advertisers with 6 per cent share, and the top ten together covered just 19 per cent of ad space, a reflection of how fragmented print spending remains. Three new entrants joined the top ten in 2025, with Billion Brains Garage Ventures the only exclusive presence not seen in 2024’s list. In the top ten brands, LIC dominated with a 2 per cent share, while Nippon India Mutual Fund rose to third position from fourth in 2024. English accounted for 62 per cent of print ad space, Hindi for 20 per cent. Business and finance publications took 59 per cent of the genre split. The south zone led regional spending with 33 per cent of print ad space, Bangalore topping that zone, while New Delhi and Mumbai were the leading cities nationally.
Radio: louder than ever
Radio ad volumes for the BFSI sector have climbed steadily, rising 12 per cent above 2021 levels in 2023, 36 per cent in 2024 and 45 per cent in 2025. The quarterly pattern within 2025 was volatile: a sharp drop of 43 per cent in the second quarter and 42 per cent in the third, followed by a near-full recovery in the fourth. Life insurance led radio categories with 22 per cent of volumes, banking services and products second at 14 per cent and corporate NBFCs third at 11 per cent. LIC of India held its position as the leading radio advertiser with 20 per cent of ad volumes; the top ten radio advertisers together covered 69 per cent. Muthoot Financial Enterprises led radio brands with 10 per cent share, five of the top ten brands belonged to LIC alone, and SBI Mutual Fund made a remarkable leap to fifth position from 272nd in 2024. Evening and morning time-bands together captured 84 per cent of radio ad volumes, with evenings at 44 per cent and mornings at 40 per cent. Maharashtra was the leading state for radio BFSI advertising with 18 per cent share; Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for 43 per cent.
Digital: the five-times surge
If one number defines the 2025 BFSI advertising story, it is five. Digital ad impressions for the sector multiplied fivefold between 2021 and 2025, having already doubled in 2023 and doubled again in 2024 before the 2025 leap. Within the year, impressions dipped 19 per cent in the second quarter and 12 per cent in the third before recovering 8 per cent above the first quarter by the fourth. Banking services and products led digital categories with 27 per cent of impressions, life insurance and credit cards tied at 19 per cent each, and securities and sharebroking organisations fell from first place in 2024 to fourth in 2025. Axis Bank was the runaway leader among digital advertisers with 12 per cent of impressions, followed by ICICI Bank at 9 per cent, IDFC First Bank at 7 per cent and Kotak Mahindra Bank at 6 per cent. The top ten digital advertisers covered 59 per cent of impressions, and seven of them were new entrants compared with 2024, signalling rapid churn in the digital spending hierarchy. At brand level, Axis Bank led with 9 per cent, ICICI HPCL Super Saver Credit Card vaulted to third place from 921st in 2024, and six of the top ten digital brands were new to the list. Programmatic buying accounted for 91 per cent of all digital BFSI transactions; combined with ad networks, it captured 96 per cent.
The data from TAM AdEx paints the portrait of a sector that still believes in the power of the television news bulletin to sell insurance to the masses, but increasingly knows that the next generation of borrowers, investors and cardholders is scrolling, not watching. The race is now on to reach them before the algorithm serves up someone else’s loan offer first.
