Five years after Google settled a class-action lawsuit brought against it for conniving at click fraud, the online ad heavyweight has been slapped with a similar lawsuit, this time by a Seattle locksmith that used Google's AdWords service for online advertising.
123 Lock & Key has alleged that it was made to pay for even those ad clicks that seemed fraudulent. According to a complaint filed with the Kings County state court, 123 Lock & Key has accused Google of breach of contract and violation of Washington state laws.
123 Lock was awakened to the possibility of it being a victim of click-fraud when there was a sudden spike in daily clicks, but the “clicks never converted into phone calls.” It says that earlier 80% of the clicks used to lead to phone inquiries.
123 Lock owner Guy Aloni says that although he tried to draw Google's attention to the issue - even suggesting that the shady clicks might be the handiwork of a competitor, he could not elicit a satisfactory response.
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Comments are closed on this article
sdcat
June 02, 2010 at 9:50am
This requires further investigation. No conclusion shall be drawn at this time; we do not have enough information regarding the case.
someone87
June 02, 2010 at 8:48am
So someone advertised with Google, and people clicked on Google's add, and so the clicks went up and so it might have been unscrupulous competition trying to run 123 lock and key out of business.
I fail to see, in any way shape or form how that has anything to do with Google, is Google's fault, or anything that Google could really do about it other than ban certain IP's from clicking on their add service, which would be counter productive.
This is a stupid court case, that should be thrown out instantly.
Unless they have some proof that Google was inflating the numbers, or clicking on the adds themselves, 123 lock and key doesn't have a leg to stand on IMO.
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