A class action suit covering alleged victims of click fraud and other invalid or improper clicks on online advertisements purchased from IAC Search & Media Inc. and Ask Jeeves Inc. (now Ask.com) may be resolved by a proposed settlement announced Wednesday.
“Seems Lane’s Gifts are not the only ones getting money back from LookSmart and Ask for click fraud, letters were sent out for the class action suit that both companies are trying to put behind them.”
Both letters written by the same law firm and were from the suit lodged in the Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas.
The proposed settlement arose from the case of Lane’s Gifts and Collectibles et al. v. Ask Jeeves Inc. et al., filed in the Circuit Court of Miller County, Ark., alleging breach of contract and failure to stop click fraud.
Scott Hendison received an email about a click fraud settlement by Ask Sponsored Listings that states: “If you purchased online advertising from IAC Search & Media and/or ASK Jeeves from August 2005 to now, you are entitled to some form of reimbursement for click fraud or other invalid or improper clicks.”
LookSmart is dealing with the period between January 1, 2002 and the present; while Ask is covering claims beginning August 1, 2005 till now, when it began licensing LookSmart’s technology for its Ask Sponsored Listings product.
Copies of the two letters are below.
The Ask letter reads:
“If you purchased online advertising from IAC Search & Media, Inc. and/or Ask Jeeves, Inc. (collectively “Ask”) between August 1, 2005 and the present, you may be a class member in a class-action lawsuit, Lane’s Gifts and Collectibles et al. v. Ask Jeeves, Inc. et al., Case No.: CV-2005-52-1, in the Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas. This notice advises you of your legal rights.
Oakland’s Ask.com denies the allegations according to a settlement notice posted on the Web site www.asksettlement.com. The company also said “all payments that it has received from class members for online advertising were legally and properly charged” and that it has broken no laws or contracts.
Under the terms of the agreement, advertising credits on Ask.com would be provided to people certifying they were victims of click fraud purchased from IAC or Ask Jeeves between Aug. 1, 2005, and the present.
In the Settlement Notice, Ask reiterates that a settlement is not an admission of guilt or a finding by the court, but an agreement between the two companies to save money by not continuing with further litigation.
You should review the detailed Settlement Notice as soon as possible, as there are several important deadlines that you must meet to take certain actions in connection with a proposed settlement of the class action lawsuit. Your legal rights are affected whether you act or do not act.
The deadline for filing an objection or excluding yourself from the proposed settlement is February 2, 2008, and the last day to file a claim under the proposed settlement is February 2, 2008. For further information, please refer to the Settlement Notice.
To file a claim for your award of advertising credits under the settlement, click on the following link: AskSettlement.com/claim. Each advertiser will be allowed one claim per account.
“Further details can be found at AskSettlement.com, which contains a PDF of the settlement notice, the online claim form, a method to contact someone, and frequently asked questions.”
The LookSmart’s letter read as follows:
“If you purchased online advertising from LookSmart between January 1, 2002 and the present, you may be a class member in a class-action lawsuit, Lane’s Gifts and Collectibles et al. v. LookSmart, Ltd. et al., Case No.: CV-2005-52-1, in the Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas.
The Settlement Notice at:
(http://looksmartsettlement.com/assets/pdf/notice.pdf) informs you of the Court’s certification of a class for settlement purposes; the nature of the claims alleged, your right to participate in, or exclude yourself from, the class; a proposed settlement; and how you can claim an award of advertising credits under the settlement or object to the settlement.
- The proposed settlement will provide advertising credits to class members who certify that they were the victims of “click fraud” or other invalid or improper clicks on online advertisements purchased from LookSmart on or after January 1, 2002.
- The proposed settlement will resolve claims that LookSmart breached its contracts with advertisers and violated other laws by failing to adequately detect and stop “click fraud” or other invalid or improper clicks on online advertisements.
- If you are a member of the class, your legal rights are affected by whether you act or do not act.
Claims must be filed to LookSmart by February 11, 2008; for your award of advertising credits under the settlement, click on the following link: LooksmartSettlement.com/claim.
You should review the Settlement Notice as soon as possible as there are several important deadlines that you must meet to take certain actions in connection with this proposed settlement. As indicated above, your legal rights are affected whether you act or do not act.
The deadline for filing an objection or excluding yourself from the proposed settlement is January 29, 2008, and the last day to file a claim under the proposed settlement is February 11, 2008. For further information, please refer to the Settlement Notice.
Advertisers who do not opt out of the class action settlement will be automatically included in it and will be paid in the form of advertising credits on IAC network.
Ask said the company would establish an $820,000 settlement fund, $258,000 of which will likely go to lawyers and the rest will be given to those who qualify for the settlement.
The settlement will be reviewed at a hearing on March 13, 2008 at 1:00pm, where the court will determine whether the settlement is “fair, reasonable, and adequate.”