• Adotas, Wednesday, May 17, 2006 11 AM

Adotas runs down the list of pending litigations facing Google over click fraud. There's the original case in Arkansas filed by Lane's Gifts, settled out of court for a paltry $90 million ($60 million after lawyers' fees) in AdWords credits. Next came the AIT case, filed in California. The most recent, again filed in Arkansas, is against the plaintiffs who filed the original suit, claiming the settlement was a bad deal that doesn't fairly represent Google's advertisers. Why was the original settlement so lopsided? Simply because a location clause forced Lane's Gifts' lawyers into a bad deal--Google's contract states that you have to sue them in California, so the case would have been dismissed. Adotas lays out the exact terms: Google advertisers would receive about a half cent on the dollar for four years' worth of click fraud. Those advertisers that decide to apply for a refund will have to wait to see if Google finds the claim legitimate. If it does, the advertiser gets a refund in AdWords credit. In the settlement, the company offered no guarantee it will stamp out click fraud in the future. That's why in this latest lawsuit, advertisers are trying to force Google into a more reasonable deal--a half cent on the dollar is absolutely nothing, especially after you file the paperwork. This one is far from over, folks.

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