I just found out that anyone that wishes to file with Google for Click Fraud charges needs to do this by August 4th (Friday). Here’s the details:
August 4th is the deadline for submitting your claim in the recently settled class-action lawsuit, Lane’s Gifts and Collectibles et al. v. Google, Inc. et al., Case No. CV-2005-52-1, in the Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas.
The class includes all entities who bought Google advertising on or after January 1, 2002.
If you’re not one of the 556 members of the class who post marked their written objection to the case by June 19th then you have effectively decided to submit your information for your portion of the $60 million Google’s charged to pay to all members of the class. Or you’ve decided to do nothing.
Either way, because you did not submit a written objection you have submitted to the Arkansas circuit court’s ruling that you are "’forever barred and permanently enjoined’ from suing Google over click fraud."
You can claim your portion of the settlement at the ClickSettlement site and get "…funds in the form of advertising credits. These advertising credits may be applied to up to 50% of the cost of future online advertising purchased from Google."
Google at this point has admitted to no wrong doing and the court did not rule on the contentions of either party.
If you are just now hearing about this and would prefer to object rather than seek some advertising credits from Google my best suggestion at this point (I will dig in more shortly) is to have a conversation with Joseph Kinney who’s suing both Google and Lane’s Gifts in the same Arkansas court.
His website is here: SafeSpaces.com, and he appears to provide litigation consulting for people "concerned with safety and security."
Find Kinney’s thoughts about the settlement in Google Sued Over Click Fraud, Again. He is likely to be the next major player in this particular settlement.
Resources:
The best informational page I found regarding the settlement was the FAQs on the court’s official ClickSettlement.com site.
This article provided the fullest coverage of the settlement situation: Update: Judge OKs Google click-fraud settlement.
This post provided my jumping off point: Google Click Fraud Settlement Approved.
I did not listen to Danny Sullivan’s Google Click Fraud Settlement pod cast, but I suspect it’s excellent.
This article, sent to me by MarketSmart Interactive’s Diane Pease, gives insight into the market’s perceptions of paid search, and should serve as a reminder to advertisers that both paid search and online marketing are still in their infancy and we’re likely to see great changes in the coming years: An advertising model that does not click.
