Can i rank for competitor brand keyword?

Hi. Lets say i have a website in one niche.
A Brand website has the same niche like mine, but a lot of popularity.
Now, can i anchor his brand to my domain? It is legal?
I will not have any sugesstion or his brand on my site. Is just for T1,T2 seo.

Now, can i anchor his brand to my domain? It is legal? - no absolutely not you are not allowed!

Lets say, the brand is not a "brandable" keyword, is just a simple keyword, like "orange", or "apple"

You will get into trouble for this

If your question is 'can I use brand name keyword as anchor text', I don't see a problem with it. everyone is doing this, news sites for example are full of brand name anchors linking to various sites. if you want to use a domain with brand name in it, then this is another question..

johndefoe said:

If your question is 'can I use brand name keyword as anchor text', I don't see a problem with it. everyone is doing this, news sites for example are full of brand name anchors linking to various sites. if you want to use a domain with brand name in it, then this is another question..

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That is! i think the same, but not sure.

I agree with SCSEROGURU, it is something that is doable if done right. If you go against trademark laws or even come close to that line, you are treading in dangerous waters.

alright, lets say more: if website is ex "apple.com" and i will use just "apple" a common word (withowt .com) can create this troubles?

*The basics are clear, if you create brand confusion by using a competitor's trademark (without a disclaimer that you are not the competitor) then you have violated the trademark. If you are selling apples, you can use the word "apple" but if you are selling computers, then using "apple" would not be advised. However, some people choose to make a little disclaimer on their site which reads something like this "ABC Company is not affiliated with Apple Computer" with the hope that the words "Apple Computer" would then get picked up as an anchor. It's tricky and legal. The part that is unclear is this; if you are using the brand name of a competitor in an effort to solicit their customers, like choosing their brand name as a key word in Google adwords, then the world has mixed feelings. Recently Google made the policy very clear. They lifted the restriction on using competitor keywords, citing the legal opinion that use of a trademark to seek out and solicit customers is perfectly OK, so long as the competitor's keyword does not appear in your ad copy, where you might confuse the customer as to what brand they are buying. (*This is not legal advice.)