News

Google Sued Over “Deceiving” Ad Clients

Written on: April 22nd 2008
Author: by Kathleen |
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ADOTAS – Google is “deceiving its customers into paying for ads they don’t want,” charges a federal class action lawsuit filed today by Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California.

“This debunks Google’s carefully cultivated image,” said Brian Kabateck, who is lead counsel on the case and Managing Partner of Kabateck Brown Kellner. “Google is hurting its customers on two fronts. Google is not only taking money out of customers’ pockets, it’s derailing their advertising strategies as well.”

Kabateck says Google’s AdWords program – which appears on Google.com, partner sites and third-party sites that use AdSense – asks clients how much they are willing to pay per click when they sign up.

During the process, users see two boxes; in the first, customers enter the maximum amount they’re willing to pay per click on a display ad on Google.com, and in the second box, which is marked optional, a user can enter the amount they’re willing to pay per click for an ad appearing on a third-party Web page. Leaving the box blank doesn’t prevent the ad from being displayed on third-party sites, Kabateck says.

Google then places the ads on the sites and users are charged per click based on the amount they entered into the first box – which prompted this suit, Kabateck says.

“People go to Google hoping that some of its magic will rub off on them,” Kabateck added. “Instead, Google’s sleight of hand deception is making their money disappear.”

Yahoo recently shelled out millions to Kabatech and was part of a previous $90 million settlement from Google on behalf of advertisers who say they were victims of click fraud that Google knowingly overlooked.

Reader Comments.

It is true, even an experienced person can forget about the content check box and end up with thousands of impressions and clicks on the content network before realizing what’s happened and turning it off. Even Google Optimization specialists highly recommend creating a completely separate campaign for the content network and turning it off in all Google/Search campaigns.