Lawsuit Against Google Over Invalid Clicks and Special Partner Advertising Dismissed — Woods v. Google
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Woods v. Google, 5:10-cv-1263-JF (N.D. Cal.; Aug 10, 2011) This is an advertiser vs. Google lawsuit where the plaintiff argued on behalf of a putative class that (1) he was improperly charged…
Q3 2011 Quick Links, Part 5
By Eric Goldman See the other quick links posts in this series: * Q3 2011 Quick Links, Part 4 * Q3 2011 Quick Links, Part 3 * Q3 2011 Quick Links, Part 2 (Trademarks/Domain Names Edition) * Q3 2011 Quick…
Court Disregards Check-the-Box Agreement and Doesn’t Enforce Venue Clause — Dunstan v. comScore
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with additional comments from Eric] Dunstan v. comScore, Inc., 11-cv-05807 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 7, 2011) Plaintiffs sued comScore, alleging that comScore improperly obtained and misused plaintiff’s personal information, after plaintiffs downloaded and used comScore’s software. comScore…
Q3 2011 Quick Links, Part 4
By Eric Goldman Content Regulation * Lawmakers are putting the squeeze on advertisers to be content police. Meanwhile, VeriSign begged for the right to act as content police before changing its mind. * Kowalski v. Koster, 2011 WL 4349365 (W.D….
Court Dismisses Lawsuit Under Michigan Spam Statute Based on Preemption and Lack of Standing — Hafke v. Rossdale Group, LLC
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Hafke v. Rossdale Group, LLC, 11-cv-220 (W.D. Mich.; Oct. 7, 2011) Hafke described himself as someone who is “attempting to stop Spam in Michigan.” He sued Rossdale, a continuing legal education provider, complaining about six unsolicited…
Q3 2011 Quick Links, Part 3
By Eric Goldman Advertising Search Marketing * Search Engine Land: “In many cases, it is worth buying keywords even if you rank organically for them.” Similarly, a Google study indicates that PPC advertising lifts clicks on organic results. Prior blog…
Spam Claims Covered by Contract’s Indemnity Clause–Commonwealth Marketing Group v. IMG Assocs.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Commonwealth Mktg. Group v. IMG Assocs., 08-5074 (W.D. Wash. Sept. 28, 2011) Commonwealth Marketing asserted claims for indemnification against IMG Associates, for underlying claims brought by prolific spam plaintiff James Gordon. Among other cases, Gordon is…
Google Defeats Class Certification in Keyword Ad Lawsuit–FPX v. Google
By Eric Goldman FPX, LLC v. Google, Inc., 2011 WL 4783376 (E.D. Tex. Sept. 29, 2011) Google obtained a major victory in one of the most serious pending lawsuits against it challenging its AdWords keyword advertising program. Putative class action…
Q3 2011 Quick Links, Part 2 (Trademarks/Domain Names Edition)
By Eric Goldman * In the Betty Boop case (Fleischer Studios v. AVELA), the Ninth Circuit stepped back from some of its perplexing language about aesthetic functionality and the Dastar opinion, but the revised opinion remains confusing. Rebecca’s coverage. *…
Massachusetts Court Dismisses Lawsuit Alleging Failure to Adequately Safeguard Personal Information — Katz v. Pershing
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Katz v. Pershing, LLC, 10-12227-RGS (D. Mass. Aug 23, 2011) Background: Katz maintained an account at National Planning Corporation, an “introducing firm” for which Pershing provides brokerage clearing services. Pershing’s services are provided on a proprietary…