This morning, many Yahoo advertisers received an email from Rust Consulting letting them know, they are included in a legal settlement over Yahoo search ads. The settlement web site, which is at inreyahoosettlement.com explains that the “lawsuit alleges that customers contracted for targeted ad placements through two products, “Sponsored Search” and “Content Match” (and predecessor products provided by Overture Services, Inc. and GoTo.com, Inc.) and that Yahoo! breached its contract with its customers by allowing Yahoo! ads to be displayed in spyware, domain name parking sites (bulk registration sites), pop-ups, pop-unders and typosquatting sites.”
Those eligible in the settlement get a refund of $20, whereas the lawyers get $4,170,000.00, plus reimbursement of expenses of approximately $100,000. You can see all the court documents over here and the email sent to eligible advertisers over here.
Finally, if you want to get your $20, you need to submit a claim online by March 22, 2010. If you are not happy with the $20, you can always sue Yahoo directly, but make sure to exclude yourself from this settlement by December 14, 2009.
Related Topics: Legal: Clickfraud | Yahoo: Legal | Yahoo: Search Ads
One of us is missin’ something. When I read it in the wee hours this morning, it seemed to me that only those who have gone out of business get the $20.
Internet publishers should always be required to provide information to online advertisers as to placement; however, since this is unlikely to be provided in the bulk of the cases, it is up to web and mobile advertisers to negotiate ad placement in their online advertising contracts. Too many advertisers get into Pay Per Click (PPC) deals with little understanding of where their ads will appear. While I agree that this settlement is an embarrassment to most lawyers, it may serve to push internet publishers for more disclosure. — by Online advertising lawyer — http://www.web20lawyer.com/page0/page6/online-marketing-advertising-compliance.html