• by Wendy Davis , Yesterday

The search advertiser PVC Fence Wholesaler has no grounds to sue Google in federal court for allegedly failing to disclose details about paid search campaigns, the company argues.

In papers filed September 9 with U.S. District Court Judge Casey Pitts in San Jose, Google contends that PVC "merely alleges potential harm without pleading that it personally suffered any injury."

Google adds that PVC's allegations, even if proven true, wouldn't establish the claims in its complaint -- which include accusations that Google broke its contract with PVC and violated a California consumer protection law.

"Plaintiff does not -- and cannot -- identify a single term in the Parties’ contract that Google purportedly breached," Google writes.

The company additionally argues that PVC can't proceed in federal court because its agreement with Google includes a provision requiring arbitration of disputes.

"Plaintiff agreed to Google’s Advertising Program Terms, thereby agreeing to arbitrate this dispute with Google on an individual basis," Google writes, adding that courts "routinely enforce online arbitration agreements."

The search company also says PVC was "put on notice that Google would provide a report of the search terms and phrases that most often lead users to Plaintiff’s ads and website, but not all search terms and phrases."

The company's argument comes in a battle dating to June, when PVC alleged in a class-action complaint that Google charges advertisers for clicks on keywords, but doesn't always disclose those keywords.

PVC alleged 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.”

"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, alleged.

The company specifically said 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 acknowledged 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."

Google counters in its bid to dismiss the case that it never told advertisers it would reveal all search terms that resulted in clicks.

The company writes that its contracts with search advertisers "do not promise or even suggest that Google will disclose any, let alone all the thousands of search queries that successfully triggered plaintiff’s ads."

Google also says that PVC's allegations regarding its own pay-per-click ads don't include the kinds of specifics that would warrant further proceedings.

"Plaintiff fails to allege that any of its ads were placed inconsistent with its keyword designations, and, instead, simply alleges that it 'may, or may not have' occurred," Google writes, adding: "Such conclusory allegations are plainly insufficient."

Pitts is expected to hold a hearing in the case on December 4.