• November 17, 2008

The Washington State Attorney General's Office is suing several Redmond-based businesses that allegedly promised to increase Internet traffic to small-business Web sites.

Under state and consumer-protection and telemarketing laws, the suit filed Wednesday in King County Superior Court accuses Visible.net, Captures.com, and WebMarketingSource.com.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants misrepresented the ability to significantly increase traffic, falsely claimed an affiliation with other marketers and provided round-the-clock access to customer service reps, failed to register as a commercial telephone solicitor, and failed to provide refunds or to honor cancellation requests.--Laurie Sullivan