As outlined in a previous bigmouthmedia article, Google faced a hefty lawsuit in February of 2005 when businesses such as Lane's Gifts of Arkansas, USA, concluded that search engine companies were not doing enough to protect them from becoming victims of click fraud and in turn allowing a build-up of invalid costs. What's more, months after the settlement was brought to light, the advertisers' attorneys decided that $90-million simply wouldn't cut it - they wanted more. However, an Arkansas judge, rejecting the claim, approved a $90-million click-fraud settlement, one-third of which would be paid in cash for all the advertiser attorneys' fees, and the remaining sum of which would be paid through advertising credits. And while Google was 'pleased' that a settlement had finally been reached, some would go as far as to claim that the lawsuit has potential to work in favour of the search engine company.
But how could a $90-million fine possibly be beneficial for Google? Andrew Klungness, an attorney specialising in litigation for the internet and ecommerce, says that:
"If you look at the terms of the settlement, [Google is] paying in credits, which allows [the search engine] to maintain relationships with its advertisers....90 million bucks is a heck of a lot of money to a normal person [but] in a class-action lawsuit, you're talking about many, many plaintiffs."
Such a statement signifying that many, many relationships have been upheld.
And there certainly seems to be some truth to the notion; since the settlement, Google has made significant efforts to develop new programs which aim to give advertisers a clearer view of their online ad accounts and, in turn, enable them to better monitor click-fraud. It's therefore clear that Google is doing all they can to mend and reinforce client relationships, as well as prevent further downfalls.
Klungness thinks it's high time for search engines to crank up on innovation, commenting that:
"PPC advertising is in trouble at the very least. I think the markets will determine how they want to pay for advertising, but there seems to be a good reason for search engines to offer other alternatives."
So it seems that the recent settlement has indeed taken its toll on search engines, yet also strengthened the market by other means. But the reinforcement - maintaining client relationships - will certainly outweigh everything else in the long run; and if search engines do undergo any significant shifts, such as employing alternatives to pay-per-click, they will undoubtedly have a strong client standing to follow alongside.
