The lawsuit alleged Google charged for clicks outside targeted locations and manipulated its Smart Pricing formula.
Google agreed to settle after reviewing 910,000+ pages of evidence and multiple mediation sessions.
Plaintiffs' lawyers may claim up to 33% of the settlement amount, along with $4.2 million in legal fees.
Google has agreed to pay $100 million (over Rs 850 crore) to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of charging the advertisers more and failing to offer the promised discount. For the unversed, the lawsuit was filed in 2011 and accused Google’s advertising system of charging for clicks outside the targeted locations and manipulating the smart pricing formula to lower the discounts.
According to Reuters, the settlement, filed in a California federal court, awaits judicial approval and applies to advertisers who used Google AdWords (now Google Ads) between 2004 and 2012. The plaintiffs have claimed that Google has breached the contracts by misleading the advertisers about the ad placements and violating California’s unfair competition laws. In response, Google has denied the wrongdoings and now chose to resolve the matter after 14 years.
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Why Google agreed
The report further added that both the parties have reviewed more than 910,000 pages of documents and analysed vast amounts of click data as part of the lawsuit’s extensive evidence collection. The settlement was accepted by both parties following several mediation sessions. In addition to $4.2 million for legal costs, the plaintiffs’ lawyers may request up to 33% of the settlement as fees.
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According to Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda, the company is happy to have reached a settlement in the lawsuit, which involved ad features that were altered more than ten years ago. The case, which was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California and is currently awaiting final approval, is called Cabrera et al. v. Google LLC.
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Ashish Singh
Ashish Singh is the Chief Copy Editor at Digit. Previously, he worked as a Senior Sub-Editor with Jagran English from 2022, and has been a journalist since 2020, with experience at Times Internet. Ashish specializes in Technology. In his free time, you can find him exploring new gadgets, gaming, and discovering new places. View Full Profile
