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Sponsored results are triggered by keywords tapped into the Google search engine by consumers that have been bought by advertisers.

In a court filing, it cited two examples where links that included the names of local car dealerships actually led to Trading Post, a classified ads magazine.

In response, Google denied wrongdoing.

It said that it blocks advertisers from buying trademarked keywords, but only once was notified by a trademark holder.

It added that it was investigating to find out whether Kloster Ford or Charlestown Toyota, the two car dealerships in the ACCC case had made a complaint.

Experts say that having to police who wins which search terms would prove a massive headache for Google.

Large companies such as eBay, the online auction house, make bids for hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of keywords.

Chris Lake, of e-consultancy, the analyst, said: "It would be just about impossible for Google to pro-actively police the use of branded or trademarket keywords. Not only are the volume of bids massive; the scope for disputes, over a term such as 'Apple' is also enormous."

One of the ongoing UK complaints to the ASA involves a Sony UK advert on the Google site which said that free MP3 players would be given to customers who signed up for a special Sony Card.

The complainant said that the ad was misleading because a purchase had to be made to qualify for a player.

In the other complaint, BSkyB, the pay-TV group, has said that Virgin, its rival, should not be allowed to buy advertising keywords that say "satellite TV" because Virgin offers cable services only.

Sky is 39.1 per cent owned by News Corporation, parent company of Times Online.

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