Google settles 2011 ad lawsuit for $100 million

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Google has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of charging advertisers for clicks on ads that appeared outside their chosen geographic areas. 

This lawsuit, originally filed in 2011, focused on Google’s advertising platform, formerly called AdWords (now Google Ads). 

The complaint claimed that Google misled advertisers by showing their ads in locations they didn’t select and failing to provide promised discounts under a pricing system called “Smart Pricing.”

The proposed settlement was filed in a California court and still needs a judge’s approval before it becomes final. 

The lawsuit argued that Google violated California’s Unfair Competition Law by not being transparent about where ads would be shown. 

Businesses that used Google Ads between June 1, 2009, and December 13, 2012, are included in this class-action settlement.

Google’s spokesperson, José Castañeda, told The Verge that the case involved advertising features that were changed more than a decade ago and expressed satisfaction that the matter had been resolved. 

The settlement was reached after a thorough investigation, during which legal teams reviewed a massive amount of data—over 910,000 pages of documents and multiple terabytes of click data from Google’s systems. 

This extensive review helped both sides understand the extent of the issue before agreeing on the settlement.

The $100 million settlement is meant to compensate those affected. 

However, this is not the only legal battle Google is facing. The company is also dealing with a major antitrust lawsuit from the US government, which could potentially force Google to sell its Chrome web browser. 

Additionally, Google recently faced trial over another lawsuit that accused it of maintaining a monopoly in the online advertising industry.

While this case is coming to an end, Google still faces other legal challenges that could have significant consequences for the company’s future in online advertising and web browsing.

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