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Google Accused of Deception In Selling AdSense Keyword Ads
A lawsuit seeking class-action status was filed against Google on April 22, 2008 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose. The plaintiff, David Almeida, is claiming Google deceived him and charged for ads displayed on third-party web sites, even though he left blank a box that offered that option. The box allowed input for a maximum per-click bid, and was left blank as the service was not desired. However, he later found out that the proper opt-out entry was to enter a zero in the box.
The dispute is over Google's popular AdSense program, which targets ads to keywords in articles and other content at participating sites. The lawsuit accuses Google of defrauding advertisers out of millions of dollars collectively by "redefining the universally understood meaning of an input form left blank." The lawsuit further alleges that the most harm comes to “unsophisticated” advertisers, as a class.
The plaintiff is represented by Kabateck Brown Kellner, with managing partner Brian Kabateck acting as lead counsel on the case. The firm is well known for prior consumer-protection class actions, including one against Google which led to a $90 million settlement in 2006 over “click-fraud”, and a similar action and settlement against Yahoo!.
For additional information, visit:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/22/AR2008042202267.html