
A small
business has settled its false advertising lawsuit against Yahoo centering on its Localworks program, court documents reveal.
The deal's terms are confidential, according to a stipulation filed
last week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Judge Beth Labson Freeman officially dismissed the lawsuit on Thursday.
The resolution brings an end to a potential
class-action filed by Wilson & Haubert, a small law firm based in North Little Rock, Ark. The firm said in court papers that it paid $90 for a three-month subscription to Localworks. That service
aims to boost small businesses by ensuring they are listed in online directories and improving their visibility in search results, directories and map applications.
The law firm alleged in its
complaint that it found more than 87 errors in its directory listings after signing up for the service.
Yahoo responded in court papers that any inaccuracies in the listings were due to an
error the law firm made during the sign-up process. “A five-minute call to Yahoo’s customer service could have resolved the problem,” the company said.
Earlier this year,
Yahoo argued that Wilson & Haubert should post a bond in order to proceed with the case. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen in the Northern District of California rejected that request.
“Yahoo has not shown a possibility of success on the merits which warrant the posting of a bond,” Chen said at the time.