Google has agreed to create a fund of 11
million dollars as part of a a class action
settlement for terminating or disabling a
publisher's Adsense accounts, but not paying
out any balances that the publisher had at the
time.
The class action complaint filed by a
California company named Free Range
Content, Inc. alleged that Google would shut
down an Adsense account shortly before a
payment was to be made and then deny the
publisher the balance owed on the account.
2. The AdSense program is enormously
popular. This popularity translates annually to
billions of dollars payable to AdSense
publishers – Google’s parlance for website
operators that host its ads. But as the plaintiff
and many other publishers have found, Google
often shuts down AdSense accounts shortly
before a periodic payment is due and then
denies the publisher the entirety of the
expected payment, notwithstanding all the ads
the publisher already has served to visitors to
its website during the payment period.
3. This practice has sparked numerous bitter
complaints detailed at various places on the
web. For example, one self-described AdSense
publisher stated the following: “It’s common
knowledge among SEOs that AdSense tends to
be disabled a few days before the supposed
payout. I haven't lost any big sum – only
$2000 but I know one person that lost
$40,000. It was all legitimate traffic coming
straight from Google themselves, no click
fraud no bought traffic etc. PS: I was using
AdSense from 2008 to 2013 – over 5 years so
it’s not like only new users got banned.”1
While the Plaintiffs ultimately feel they would
have won the case, they also acknowledged in
the settlement agreement that they "recognize
that Google raised defenses as to both liability
and damages, which created a material risk
that Plaintiffs would not have prevailed."
Google on the other hand has "has at all times
denied—and continues to deny—any and all
alleged wrongdoing. Specifically, Google
denies that its conduct concerning Google
AdSense violates any law, and it is prepared to
continue its vigorous defense, including at
summary judgment and trial. Even so, taking
into account the uncertainty and risks
inherent in summary judgment and trial,
Google has concluded that continuing to
defend this Action would be burdensome and
expensive."
With both the plaintiff and Google recognizing
that this case could have gone either way,
they both felt it was in the best interests to
settle rather than continue what would be an
expensive case.
As part of the settlement agreement an 11
million dollar fund will be created, with no
more than $5,000 being paid to Class
Representatives, no more than $2,750,000
being paid to the class action lawyers, and
$116,045 reimbursed to the lawyers for costs
and expenses. The rest of the money will be
used to pay Settlement Class Members whose
accounts were terminated or disabled by
Adsense and were not paid the current
balance of their accounts.
Amount of payment is based on various
criteria
The amount of money that a claimant will be
paid depends on the payment group they
would fall under, which is based on whether a
notice of dispute was sent in a timely manner,
when they were terminated, and what Adsense
agreement their account was bound by. For
"Payment Group 1", the publisher would
receive 100% of the balance, "Payment Group
2" would receive 50%, and "Payment Group 3"
would receive 30%.
The minimum amount that can be claimed is
$3.00 and any remaining distributions will be
distributed as a “cy pres” award, which is
proposed to go to Public Justice Foundation
and Public Counsel.
For those who have had their Adsense
accounts terminated or disabled by Google
and were not paid the balance, you can visit
the http://
www.adsensepublishersettlement.com/ site to
submit a claim.
Should Google's actions be considered
criminal?
Some are also concerned about the heavy
handed actions of Google and their actions
having no consequences.
For example, a user on Hacker News was
baffled that an action like this would not be
considered a criminal act. Terminating an
account for breaking policy is one thing, but
taking their money is another thing altogether.
After posting this story, Bad Packets Report
pointed us towards an old Pastebin post from
2014, which was supposedly from a Google
employee that stated that these bans were an
attempt by Google to increase earnings.
Whether or not this post is true is not known
and could be completely fabricated, but it
does make for an interesting read.
million dollars as part of a a class action
settlement for terminating or disabling a
publisher's Adsense accounts, but not paying
out any balances that the publisher had at the
time.
The class action complaint filed by a
California company named Free Range
Content, Inc. alleged that Google would shut
down an Adsense account shortly before a
payment was to be made and then deny the
publisher the balance owed on the account.
2. The AdSense program is enormously
popular. This popularity translates annually to
billions of dollars payable to AdSense
publishers – Google’s parlance for website
operators that host its ads. But as the plaintiff
and many other publishers have found, Google
often shuts down AdSense accounts shortly
before a periodic payment is due and then
denies the publisher the entirety of the
expected payment, notwithstanding all the ads
the publisher already has served to visitors to
its website during the payment period.
3. This practice has sparked numerous bitter
complaints detailed at various places on the
web. For example, one self-described AdSense
publisher stated the following: “It’s common
knowledge among SEOs that AdSense tends to
be disabled a few days before the supposed
payout. I haven't lost any big sum – only
$2000 but I know one person that lost
$40,000. It was all legitimate traffic coming
straight from Google themselves, no click
fraud no bought traffic etc. PS: I was using
AdSense from 2008 to 2013 – over 5 years so
it’s not like only new users got banned.”1
While the Plaintiffs ultimately feel they would
have won the case, they also acknowledged in
the settlement agreement that they "recognize
that Google raised defenses as to both liability
and damages, which created a material risk
that Plaintiffs would not have prevailed."
Google on the other hand has "has at all times
denied—and continues to deny—any and all
alleged wrongdoing. Specifically, Google
denies that its conduct concerning Google
AdSense violates any law, and it is prepared to
continue its vigorous defense, including at
summary judgment and trial. Even so, taking
into account the uncertainty and risks
inherent in summary judgment and trial,
Google has concluded that continuing to
defend this Action would be burdensome and
expensive."
With both the plaintiff and Google recognizing
that this case could have gone either way,
they both felt it was in the best interests to
settle rather than continue what would be an
expensive case.
As part of the settlement agreement an 11
million dollar fund will be created, with no
more than $5,000 being paid to Class
Representatives, no more than $2,750,000
being paid to the class action lawyers, and
$116,045 reimbursed to the lawyers for costs
and expenses. The rest of the money will be
used to pay Settlement Class Members whose
accounts were terminated or disabled by
Adsense and were not paid the current
balance of their accounts.
Amount of payment is based on various
criteria
The amount of money that a claimant will be
paid depends on the payment group they
would fall under, which is based on whether a
notice of dispute was sent in a timely manner,
when they were terminated, and what Adsense
agreement their account was bound by. For
"Payment Group 1", the publisher would
receive 100% of the balance, "Payment Group
2" would receive 50%, and "Payment Group 3"
would receive 30%.
The minimum amount that can be claimed is
$3.00 and any remaining distributions will be
distributed as a “cy pres” award, which is
proposed to go to Public Justice Foundation
and Public Counsel.
For those who have had their Adsense
accounts terminated or disabled by Google
and were not paid the balance, you can visit
the http://
www.adsensepublishersettlement.com/ site to
submit a claim.
Should Google's actions be considered
criminal?
Some are also concerned about the heavy
handed actions of Google and their actions
having no consequences.
For example, a user on Hacker News was
baffled that an action like this would not be
considered a criminal act. Terminating an
account for breaking policy is one thing, but
taking their money is another thing altogether.
After posting this story, Bad Packets Report
pointed us towards an old Pastebin post from
2014, which was supposedly from a Google
employee that stated that these bans were an
attempt by Google to increase earnings.
Whether or not this post is true is not known
and could be completely fabricated, but it
does make for an interesting read.