The dispute surrounds the Google-focused news website's name, which has been in use for five years, according to a public statement by 9to5Google. Google's lawyers say it is a trademark violation.
9to5Google said: "We are a news site dedicated to covering Google, not trying to masquarade [sic] as Google, so we're appealing this decision." It added: "But there is a big chance we'll have to change our name," before running through several possible name changes:
But perhaps we should embrace the bigger company name: 9to5Alphabet.com. Obviously that has the same risks. We could also just reduce ourselves to as few of characters as possible with 925.co? Or maybe we lose the 9to5 and go 24/7? You tell us!
9to5Google had, until Wednesday, generated revenue through Google's Doubleclick/Ad Exchange network and Adsense. Google have advised the website to use different third party networks to monetize the site.
When the ads stopped working at around 12 pm on Wednesday, the tech news site reached out to Google's ad team. A Google account representative replied: "I want to start by apologizing for the abrupt and confusing way that this issue was brought to your attention. This has been really frustrating - for both of us - as these issues are normally communicated internally in advance so that I am able to give you warning and clarify the issue."
Google added: "We understand that you have been operating the site for many years and have even attended several Google hosted events without anyone bringing up an issue; however, our Legal Team must take action when they discover a trademark violation whether they discover it early on or much later."
Business Insider has contacted Google for a response and we will update this article when we hear back.