Hello Mark,

> 
> Its about time we took head on this common claim that generic 
> names are
> somehow more valuable than non-generic names.  There is no evidence to
> support this.
> 
>
Well said.

Nor do I buy "Cereal" cereal, or "Washing Powder" washing powder at the
supermarket.
Kelloggs, and OMO are much stronger brands.  Cereal and Washing Power can
appear as index terms on signs in a supermarket, but I then recognise the
product I want via the brand.

So on the Internet I might use a search engine with a keyword like cereal to
find websites dealing in cereal, but I probably won't buy cereal from
cereal.com.

Bruce Tonkin