Yahoo Settles Class Action Pay Per Click Advertisement Suit

A U.S. District Court in California has granted preliminary approval to a settlement in a class action suit brought against Yahoo! Inc. The 2006 suit was brought by several representative customers who contracted for pay-per-click search ads under the “Sponsored Search” or “Content Match” programs offered by Yahoo! or its predecessors. The suit alleges Yahoo! wrongly allowed the purchased ads to be displayed in spyware, domain name parking sites, pop-ups, pop-unders and typo-squatting sites.

While Yahoo! has admitted no wrongdoing, the settlement requires Yahoo! to establish a new option to allow customers to control where their Sponsored Search ads will appear. Customers may direct that such ads will appear only on websites and other Internet properties owned or operated by Yahoo!, and the websites of certain “Premium” distribution partners. Yahoo! will also pay attorney fees and settlement expenses, as well as refunds of $20 to class members who have gone out of business. If finalized, the settlement will apply to the “U.S. Marketplace”, namely, Yahoo!’s ad “marketplace” covering the United States and English-speaking Canada.

For additional information, visit:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10374093-265.html

http://tinyurl.com/techcrunch-yahoo-ad-settlement

For a copy of the settlement, visit:

http://tinyurl.com/yl7vc4c

Volume VII

Yahoo Settles Class Action Pay Per Click Advertisement Suit