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WPW Member Posts Google Response To Adwords Email
SecurityProNews
Staff Writer
2006-05-24
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
This is a follow-up to yesterday's story titled "Security Concern About Google Adwords Email" about a thread in WebProWorld.
Links: Yesterday's article, WPW thread
A lengthy post was made by another WPW member, free, who claims to have contacted a Google representative, and shares the email response. The following is free's post:
I asked my Google rep and here's her reply (it's real in a nutshell):
Thanks for your email. I understand your concern regarding an email you received from a third party. While there is a limit to how much I can paraphrase given that this is a legal case, I do hope that you'll find the following information works by way of clarification. I have included instructions on the different courses of action you can take.
- Is this email notification legitimate?
Yes. On May 19, 2006 (PST) a notice was emailed to the contact email address in your Google AdWords account. The email notification is legitimate and was authorised by Google.
All advertisers who purchased advertising on the Internet from Google at any time on or after January 1, 2002 received the notice. Our AdWords Support team is not able to provide you with legal advice relating to this class action suit addressed in the email notification. However, we do recommend that you carefully review the information in the email and at http://www.clicksettlement.com. Necessary information on the issue is contained in these resources.
- What is the case about?
Plaintiffs Lane's Gifts and Collectibles and Max Caulfield d/b/a Caulfield Investigations filed a class action suit against Google. Although the Court has not made a determination whether Plaintiffs' or Google's contentions are correct, both sides have reached a settlement agreement. If approved by the courts, a settlement, in the form of advertising credits, will be paid out to class members.
Plaintiffs allege that Google breached its contract with class members and violated the law by failing to adequately detect and stop "click fraud" or other invalid or improper clicks on online advertisements. Google contends that all payments that it has received from class members for online advertising were legally and properly charged, and that it has neither breached its contracts with class members nor violated any other law through the actions alleged in the case.
- Am I eligible? How do I participate?
If you fit within the definition of the class that the Court has certified and you believe you have been affected by invalid clicks, you are eligible to make a claim. To do so, you must submit a claim form online at http://www.clicksettlement.com. Claim forms must be submitted between June 19, 2006 and August 4, 2006. Note that claims made after August 4, 2006 will not be considered.
The class the Court has certified is defined as: All persons or entities, together with any officer, employee or agent of the same, that purchased advertising on the Internet from Google on or after January 1, 2002, regardless of where the ad was displayed. All advertisers who fall within the class definition are eligible to participate in the settlement, regardless of the advertiser's location.
- How do I opt out?
If you remain a class member, you will be represented by class counsel. There are no fees that you have to pay class counsel. However, you may exclude yourself (opt out) from the class by mailing a signed letter asking to be excluded from the Class to:
Click Settlement Opt Out
P.O. Box 808070
Petaluma, CA 94975-8070
USA
The letter asking to be excluded must be postmarked no later than 30 days after the date of the notice you received notifying you of your eligibility to participate. If you are excluding yourself, the letter must contain your name and address and say that you want to be excluded from the settlement. If you are excluding your company, your letter must contain your company's name and address, your position in the company, and a statement that you are authorised to act on behalf of the company.
- What will the settlement be?
You will receive settlement funds in the form of advertising credits. These advertising credits may be applied to up to 50% of the cost of future online advertising purchased from Google.
Credits will be awarded on a pro rata basis, taking into account the amount that you paid Google for the ads in your claim and the total amount of credits available in the settlement. For example, if the amounts that you paid to Google for the affected ads were 1% of Google's revenues from online advertising since January 1, 2002, you would be eligible to receive 1% of the total available credits.
Please note that you must certify in your claim form the percentage of your ads you believe were affected by "click fraud."
- When will the settlements be distributed to affected advertisers?
At this time, we are in the early stages of the claims process. As a result, we do not have an estimate as to when the distribution may occur. Cases of this type often require a significant amount of time to complete. We will provide more details on when advertising credits will be applied as soon as we can.
- How do I find out more?
Google is not able to provide you with advice on making a claim. If you would like more information on the settlement, please review the information available at http://www.clicksettlement.com.
If you have additional questions relating to your AdWords account, please email or call on 0845 358 0038 and we'll be glad to help.
Best regards,
[My rep]
The Google UK AdWords Team
You can add to the conversation in this WebProWorld thread...
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