Google has agreed to pay $100 million in cash to end a decades-long class action lawsuit that accused it of overcharging advertisers. The agreement, filed in federal court in San Jose, California, ends a 14-year dispute and is awaiting approval by a judge, Reuters reports.
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Charges and settlement details
Advertisers who used Google's AdWords program (now Google Ads) between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 13, 2012, alleged that the company violated its contract by manipulating its “smart pricing” mechanism and reducing promised discounts. Thursday's settlement covers that group. While Google has not admitted wrongdoing, spokesman Jose Castaneda said, “This relates to features that were changed more than a decade ago, and we are pleased to close this case.”
Long process and costs
The lawsuit has been slow to resolve due to the volume of evidence: The parties submitted more than 910,000 pages of documents and several terabytes of clickstream data, holding six mediation sessions with four mediators. The plaintiffs' attorneys are entitled to a third of the settlement in fees, as well as $4.2 million in expenses, reflecting the complexity of the case.