Editing Click fraud (section)

===Lawsuits===
* Disputes over the issue have resulted in a number of [[lawsuit]]s. In one case, Google (acting as both an advertiser and advertising network) won a lawsuit against a Texas company called Auction Experts (acting as a publisher), which Google accused of paying people to click on ads that appeared on Auction Experts' site, costing advertisers $50,000.<ref name="MediaPost">{{cite web |url=https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/31772/ |title=Google Wins $75,000 in Click Fraud Case |work=Media Post |first=Wendy |last=Davis |date=July 5, 2005 |access-date=2024-04-15}}</ref>  Despite networks' efforts to stop it, publishers are suspicious of the motives of the advertising networks, because the advertising network receives money for each click, even if it is fraudulent.
* In July 2005, Yahoo settled a [[class action]] lawsuit against it by plaintiffs alleging it did not do enough to prevent click fraud. Yahoo paid $4.5 million in legal bills for the plaintiffs and agreed to settle advertiser claims dating back to 2004<ref name="imediaconnection">{{cite web |last=Ryan |first=Kevin M. |url=http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/10294.asp |title=Big Yahoo Click Fraud Settlement |publisher=iMedia Connection |date=July 5, 2006 |access-date=July 6, 2006 |archive-date=July 20, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720015152/http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/10294.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>  In July 2006, Google settled a similar suit for $90 million.<ref name="google update">[[Nicole Wong|Wong, Nicole]]; [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/update-lanes-gifts-v-google.html "Update Lanes Gifts v. Google"]. Google Blog, March 8, 2006</ref><ref name="google_lanes_final">{{cite web |author=Griffin, Joe E.|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/pdf/lanes_google_final_order.pdf |title=Lanes v. Google Final Order |publisher=Googleblog.blogsport.com |date=July 27, 2006}}</ref>
* On March 8, 2006, Google agreed to a $90 million settlement fund in the class-action lawsuit filed by Lane's Gifts & Collectibles.<ref name="search engine watch">[[Danny Sullivan|Sullivan, Danny]];[http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060308-152034 "Google Agrees To $90 Million Settlement In Class Action Lawsuit Over Click Fraud"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122094006/http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060308-152034 |date=2007-11-22 }}. March 8, 2006</ref>  The class-action lawsuit was filed in Miller County, Arkansas, by Dallas attorneys Steve Malouf, Joel Fineberg, and Dean Gresham.<ref>{{cite web|title=Court Docket For: Lane's Gifts and Collectibles, L.L.C. et al. v. Yahoo! Inc., et al.|url=https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/Arkansas_Western_District_Court/4--05-cv-04027/Lane%27s_Gifts_LLC_et_al_v._Yahoo%21_Inc._et_al/|publisher=Docket Alarm, Inc.|access-date=6 August 2013}}</ref>   The expert witness for the Plaintiffs in the case was Jessie Stricchiola, an internet search expert who first identified instances of PPC fraud in 2001.<ref name="jessie stricchiola">{{cite web |last=Stricchiola |first=Jessie |url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2065811/Lost-Per-Click-Search-Advertising-Click-Fraud |title=Lost Per Click |publisher= Search Engine Watch |date=July 28, 2004}}</ref>