• by Wendy Davis , Yesterday

The search advertiser PVC Fence Wholesaler is pressing to move forward with a lawsuit claiming Google wrongly failed to disclose details about paid search campaigns.

"Google prioritizes profit over integrity by using its Google Ads program to deceive its customers, primarily small businesses, out of their hard-earned money," the advertiser argues in papers filed Thursday with U.S. District Court Judge Case Pitts in San Jose. "Since 2020, Google has accomplished this grift, by hiding a significant portion of its client charges inside an impenetrable 'black box' that not even Houdini could open."

The company's papers come 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.”

PVC said in the complaint 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 more than $18,000 of the ad spend.

The complaint includes claims that Google violated its contract with advertisers, and engaged in false advertising.

Google has asked Pitts to dismiss the suit, arguing both that its terms of service require advertisers to arbitrate disputes, and that the allegations -- even if true -- wouldn't prove that PVC was harmed.

"Plaintiff fails to plead any plausible injury," Google argued. "Plaintiff’s alleged facts show that it was charged for advertisements that were served and clicked on by users, resulting in actual conversions, thereby garnering more visibility and revenue for its business."

PVC countered Thursday that the lack of specific data about queries prevented it from refining its search ad strategy.

"Essentially, plaintiff paid for searches it cannot not optimize, and which may or may not be legitimate," the company argued.

Pitts is expected to hold a hearing on January 22.