Clicksettlement.com is legit - per Google
I got an interesting email this weekend with “Clicksettlement” in the From field. The subject line was:
Subj: Important Legal Notice Regarding Your Google AdWords Account
The body of the email reads as follows:
This court-ordered notice may affect your legal rights. Please read it carefully. If you purchased online advertising from Google between January 1, 2002 and the present, you are a class member in a class-action lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Miller County, Arkansas. This notice is to inform you of the Court’s certification of a class; 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. Please read the attached notice.
You can get more information at: www.clicksettlement.com.
The above text also appeared in multiple languages. After much investigating over the weekend, I was convinced this was spam because:
- The above URL was redirected to this page: http://pull.xmr3.com/p/444393A4/70127684/http-www.clicksettlement.com.html
- The domain - clicksettlement.com was not resolving to an actual website (which could mean it’s getting hit with a lot of traffic.
- The email came with an attached PDF file (which I opened). Even though the file contained more info on the settlement - I kicked myself for opening it and ran virus scans all weekend.
- There was absolutely nothing showing up on Google or Yahoo for the term “clicksettlement.com” on Saturday. By Sunday, there were a few pages listed in Google for this term and I found a thread on Digital Point’s forum about the email which dismissed it universally as spam.
However, it’s not spam!
How do I know this? I spoke with my Google rep this morning and she assured me that the email was legitimate, and that Google was aware it was going out this weekend. No one at Google apparently reviewed the email though, so she was pretty surprised when I told her that most people in the search community were dismissing the message as spam.
She then followed up with an email stating the following:
This is a legitimate email regarding an invalid click class-action lawsuit that Google has recently settled. A lawsuit was filed in the United States against Google and Yahoo alleging that these companies were overcharging for ads. While Google has not agreed with what the plaintiffs have said in the lawsuit, Google decided to reach a compromise on this issue. Part of the compromise is to offer credits to our advertisers if they believe they have been overcharged for clicks on their ads that were not valid. Because our advertisers are around the world, we decided to send a notice to all of our advertisers, even if they are not in the United States, so that they are aware of this.
This email and the attached PDF provide details and explain how you can participate in the settlement. Please note that under the settlement, you will be able to claim advertising credits that can be applied toward future advertising with Google.
If you fit within the definition of the class that the Court has certified and you believe you have been affected by invalid clicks, you are eligible to make a claim. To do so, you must submit a claim form online at http://www.clicksettlement.com. Claim forms must be submitted between June 19, 2006 and August 4, 2006. Note that claims made after August 4, 2006 will not be considered. The class the Court has certified is defined as: All persons or entities, together with any officer, employee or agent of the same, that purchased advertising on the Internet from Google on or after January 1, 2002, regardless of where the ad was displayed.
And from the horse’s mouth:
http://adwords.blogspot.com/2006/05/lanes-gifts-v-google-settlement.html
Add comment May 22nd, 2006