duh.....
NEW YORK -- A group of advertisers quietly filed a lawsuit in February against Google Inc. (GOOG), Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) and other Internet companies in a potentially important legal test of those companies' liability for a form of online-advertising fraud, Tuesday's Wall Street Journal reported.
The plaintiffs, led by Lane's Gifts & Collectibles LLC, a Texarkana, Ark., retailer, allege that the Internet companies knowingly overcharged for advertisements they sold and conspired with each other to continue doing so. The plaintiffs are seeking to have their suit, which hasn't received widespread attention, certified as a class action.
The suit concerns a growing search-industry problem of "click fraud," in which someone clicks on online ads with ill intent. Advertisers generally pay Google, Yahoo and others based on the number of times people click on their ads displayed alongside Web-search results, with each click costing roughly 50 cents on average. By repeatedly clicking on the ads, or using software programs to automate the clicking, fraudsters can run up ad charges for rivals.
The suit, filed in Circuit Court in Miller County, Ark., alleges that the search companies improperly charged the plaintiffs for such fraudulent clicks. The Lane's suit also names as defendants Time Warner Inc. (TWX) and its America Online unit; Ask Jeeves Inc. (ASKJ); Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS) online unit; Daum Communications Corp. (035720.KQ) subsidiary Lycos Inc.; LookSmart Ltd. (LOOK); and FindWhat.com Inc. (FWHT).
An Ask Jeeves spokeswoman said the company was evaluating the lawsuit. LookSmart and Lycos spokeswomen declined to comment. Officials at the other companies, including Google and Yahoo, confirmed that they were aware of the suit but declined to comment.
Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter Kevin J. Delaney contributed to this report.
Dow Jones Newswires |
