Google offers 90 million dollars to end 'click fraud' lawsuit

30 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060309...N5bnN1YmNhdA--

Internet search engine leader Google said it had offered up to 90 million dollars to settle a lawsuit by advertisers who accuse it of overbilling them through "click fraud."

Google Associate General Counsel Nicole Wong, in a statement issued on Google's official website, stressed that "until the settlement is approved by the judge, it is not final."

She said that to settle the lawsuit filed in February in Arkansas state, Google had agreed to reimburse advertisers "for clicks they believe are invalid," offering them "credits which can be used to purchase new advertising with Google."

"We do not know how many will apply and receive credits, but under the agreement, the total amount of credits, plus attorneys fees, will not exceed 90 million dollars," the Google lawer added.

The agreement covers "all advertisers who claim to have been charged but not reimbursed for invalid clicks dating from 2002 when we launched our 'cost per click' advertising program through the date the settlement is approved by the judge," Wong added.

The plaintiffs accuse Google of wrongly charging them for numerous invalid clicks on their advertising banners.

Wong said the plaintiffs could apply for reimbursement of "clicks that happen during the 60 days prior to notifying Google.

"Under the agreement with the plaintiffs, we are going to open up that window for all advertisers, regardless of when the questionable clicks occurred."

"We have said for some time that we believe we manage the problem of invalid clicks very well," said Wong.

"By far, most invalid clicks are caught by our automatic filters and discarded 'before' they reach an advertisers bill. And for the clicks that are not caught in advance, advertisers can notify Google and ask for reimbursement.

"We investigate those clicks, and if we determine they were invalid, we reimburse advertisers for them.

"We will continue to do that, and believe that this settlement is further proof of our willingness to work together with advertisers to reimburse invalid clicks."

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