• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, July 1, 2025

The search advertiser PVC Fence Wholesale has sued Google for allegedly failing to disclose specific details regarding search queries that resulted in clicks on paid ads.

"Google charges the customer for alleged clicks on keywords that Google refuses to disclose and for which the customer is unable to tell what it paid for," PVC Fence alleges in a class-action complaint filed Monday in federal court in San Jose, California.

The complaint alleges that between 2007 and 2020, Google told advertisers which search terms resulted in paid clicks, but that starting in 2020, Google curbed its disclosures due to "purported privacy concerns.”

The complaint includes allegations that Google broke its contract with PVC and violated a California consumer protection law.

"Charging a customer for a secret or unknown good or service that the customer never agreed to purchase, and about which the seller refuses to provide any disclosure, is a quintessential breach of contract, unfair dealing, and unfair and deceptive trade practice," PVC, a Florida-based company that sells fences and gates, alleges in the complaint.

The company specifically alleges that between 2020 and 2025, it paid slightly more than $49,450 for Google ads, and that Google did not disclose search queries accounting for around $18,337 of the ad spend.

PVC acknowledges in the complaint that Google's contract with search advertisers "does not contain a payment schedule or any discussion concerning how Google Ads users such as plaintiff are charged."

The marketer also acknowledges that Google requires advertisers to arbitrate all claims, but argues that this requirement should be deemed unenforceable.

Google hasn't yet responded to MediaPost's request for comment.