Lawyer Sues Google Over $136.11

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 by Andy Beal

Lawyer Sues Google Over $136.11

Leave it to a lawyer to come up with a new Google complaint and then turn it into a class action lawsuit.

InformationWeek reports that attorney Hal K. Levitte is suing because his ads were shown on Google’s Adsense for Domains and AdSense for Errors partners.

Levitte spent $136.11 for ads on parked domains and error pages, which works out to 15.3% of his $887.67 ad campaign.

In seeking class certification for the lawsuit, Levitte’s attorneys hope to represent other aggrieved Google advertisers. "We believe it’s a problem that affects all [Google's] advertisers equally," said Kimberly Kralowec, partner at the law firm representing Levitte.

Levitte’s ads received around 203,500 overall impressions across the two programs, generated less than 700 clicks, with zero conversions.

I’m guessing that his ad campaign just plain sucked. After all, if it didn’t, surely he’d have enough leads coming in from Google’s other channels to keep him busy enough to not have time for frivolous lawsuits.

Still, he’s smart. There’s no point pursuing $136.11 in the courts. By seeking class action status, he’s hoping others will join in. $136.11 multiplied by a few thousand advertisers, becomes a more interesting number.

What do you think? Will he win? Will Google prevail? Or, will this just get quietly settled in 9 months from now?

(via)

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10 comments on “Lawyer Sues Google Over $136.11”

Otilia Otlacan Says:

July 16th, 2008 at 10:52 am

Interesting… while ads on parked domains are fine (through the AdSense for Domains program), the AdSense TOS prohibits the ads to be displayed on error pages - although I haven’t really seen this enforced. Frivolous lawsuit, yes, but I think Google will still have to give an explanation about how they enforce their own rules to publishers.

Otilia Otlacan’s last blog post..New Artist-Oriented Video Platform MUZU.TV Launches Today
Todd Mintz Says:

July 16th, 2008 at 11:50 am

Linkbait!!!
IMNJ Says:

July 16th, 2008 at 12:20 pm

Andy - sounds like the coverage he is getting makes it worth way more than the value of his claim. Class action lawyer linkbait?!?

IMNJ’s last blog post..Plurk is Getting Hotter
MB Web Design Says:

July 16th, 2008 at 12:26 pm

Darn, I was hoping to call that first…
Ashley Says:

July 16th, 2008 at 1:06 pm

I thin Google will win this fight
Jordan McCollum Says:

July 16th, 2008 at 3:05 pm

How does the saying go? “Lawyer sues Google over $136.11, that’s not news. Google sues lawyer over $136.11, that’s news”?
Andy Beal Says:

July 16th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

@Jordan - that would be news for sure!
PS3 Says:

July 16th, 2008 at 6:34 pm

I don’t usually have sympathy for the big boys like Google but they can’t win either way. I hope they win and set a trend against frivolous suits.
Utah SEO Pro Says:

July 17th, 2008 at 8:55 pm

I guess it’s the principle of the matter, right?

Utah SEO Pro’s last blog post..Advanced Keyword Research for SEO
Art Glick Says:

July 21st, 2008 at 3:26 pm

Any town too small for one attorney can always afford two!

Anybody who knows will tell you, the only people that benefit from class actions are the attorneys.

Google is a deep pocket. It makes the ambulance chasers drool just thinking about it.

Marketing Pilgrim