Yesterday's start to the Google-Geico trial, covered here in the Washington Post, revealed the basic arguments of both sides. In the trial to determine whether or not search engines should be allowed to use trademarked terms as search terms for advertising, Google's lawyer told the judge that existing precedent in traditional media should prevail. "Geico wants you to decide the Internet is different." Most interestingly, one Google argument holds that the search giant isn't at fault in the Geico case because it is merely a publisher. "The advertiser writes the text. Geico's argument might support a claim against an advertiser, but not against Google."