Google launches AdSense lawsuit
23 November 2004
Search giant Google has reportedly filed a lawsuit against one of its AdSense Online clients.
Google claims that Houston-based Auctions Expert International defrauded the search company by clicking on its own ads multiple times.
The case, filed in Santa Clara County Court, also alleges that Auctions Expert International was in breach of its contract with Google for its actions.
AdSense links web user's queries with similar advertising. The advertiser pays Google for the user's click and Google, in turn, pays the majority of the money it receives back to the website author.
In its legal filing, Google stated: "[Auctions Expert] flagrantly abused the AdSense Online service by artificially and/or fraudulently generating ad clicks. These clicks were worthless to advertisers because they generated significant and unjust revenue for the defendants, who were paid by Google as if the clicks were legitimate.
The AdSense agreements expressly forbid any company from clicking on its own sites in order to create ad revenue or to pay other people to click on the company's sites.
Earlier this year, Michael Bradley, 32, was arrested by the FBI after he developed a piece of software called "Google Clique" that automatically clicked on AdSense adverts and Google later mentioned the subject in its April initial public offering filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as a potential threat to stock viability.
"We have regularly paid refunds related to fraudulent clicks and expect to do so in the future," Google continued. "If we are unable to stop this fraudulent activity, these refunds may increase."
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