Google to pay $100 million to settle 14-year-old advertising lawsuit
What's the story
Google has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit for $100 million, which accused the tech giant of charging advertisers for clicks on ads placed outside their chosen geographic locations.
The proposed settlement was filed in a California court and is pending judicial approval.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2011, revolves around Google's advertising platform, now called Google Ads.
Allegations
Google misled advertisers, lawsuit alleged
The lawsuit alleged that Google violated California's Unfair Competition law by misleading advertisers about where their ads would appear.
It also accused the company of not honoring its commitment to provide "Smart Pricing" discounts.
The settlement comes after a long fact discovery process, which included reviewing over 910,000 pages of documents and several terabytes of click data from Google.
Official statement
Google spokesperson comments on lawsuit resolution
Expressing satisfaction over the resolution of the case, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said, "This case was about ad product features we changed over a decade ago and we're pleased it's resolved."
The settlement will reportedly cover advertisers who used Google's AdWords program between June 1, 2009 and December 13, 2012.
This lawsuit is one of the many legal challenges currently facing Google.
Other lawsuits
Ongoing legal challenges for Google
Google is also facing a federal antitrust lawsuit that could force it to sell Chrome.
The company is already facing trial over another lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) accusing it of monopolizing the advertising technology industry.
These legal challenges come as part of ongoing scrutiny and regulatory pressures faced by tech giants like Google.