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Yahoo! to give disgruntled search marketers $20 each

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Oct 14, 2009 

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Gavin Dunaway  |

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Yahoo! to give disgruntled search marketers $20 each

ADOTAS – Grumbling all the way to the courthouse, Yahoo! has settled a class-action lawsuit filed in 2006 by disgruntled search marketers who found their ads placed in some of the most loathsome corners of the web: “spyware, domain name parking sites (also known as bulk registration sites), pop-ups, pop-unders, and typosquatting sites,” according to the affidavit.

The pending deal grants that any company that used Yahoo!’s search ads from 2000 on and is no longer in business will be eligible for (wait for it) $20. Not $20 million; 20 smackers. Presumably that’s a check and not 20 singles tossed in your general direction. Let all your woes be vanquished!

Even more delightful, lawyers for the class will receive $4.3 million in fees from Yahoo!. (They worked so hard!)

Yahoo! maintained its innocence, or at least swore it committed no foul. “Yahoo entered a settlement to avoid costly and disruptive litigation, while at the same time, agreeing to provide additional benefits for its pay per click advertisers,” the company said in a statement.

Yes, the silver (or perhaps faded gray) lining is that Yahoo! has promised search advertisers greater control over where their ads end up, including on Yahoo-owned sites like its search engine or interest pages as well as partner sites. In addition, Yahoo! says it will give advertisers more details about where their ads are displayed and set up something akin to a complaint department where marketers can grouse about difficulties with partners.

That may be cold comfort for advertisers; sticking with Yahoo! might look even less appealing considering that the company’s grand rebranding campaign appears to be backfiring. According to YouGov’s BrandIndex, which measures consumer perception of brands on a daily basis, Yahoo!’s buzz score has dipped 10 points since Sept. 22. The “It’s You” campaign was launched on Sept. 28. Perhaps Yahoo!’s response should be, “It’s not you; it’s me.”

Yahoo! might enjoy a little schadenfreude in knowing that Google is facing a similar class-action lawsuit filed by search marketers in California.

Tags: Google, search-marketers and Yahoo

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