Phil Law Weblog

Google Inc. said on Wednesday that it had agreed to pay up to $90 million to settle a class action lawsuit over advertising fraud by outside parties on its site, in a bid to put the controversy behind it.

The settlement stems from a lawsuit filed by Lane’s Gifts earlier this year in an Arkansas state court and is designed to settle all outstanding claims against Google for fraud committed using its pay-per-click ad system back to 2002, it said. I wonder if it also covers the ATF lawsuit, filed late last year for fraudulent clicks and Google’s refusal to take steps against it.

Google will offer refunds on confirmed invalid clicks for advertisers beyond its current 60-day limit, in the form of credits to purchase ads with Google. The total amount of credits, plus attorneys’ fees, will not exceed $90 million.

According to their website this agreement covers all advertisers who claim to have been charged but not reimbursed for invalid clicks dating from 2002 when we launched our “cost per click” advertising program through the date the settlement is approved by the judge. It doesn’t explicitly mention the ATF lawsuit or Steve Mizera’s lawsuit.

Source: Google Blog via Search Engine Watch

Filed under Class Action, Cyber Crime, General Law

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