Google accused of ‘deception’ in AdSense policy

The advertiser, David Almeida, said Google charged him for its AdSense program,  even though he left blank the "optional" box for Adsense in the Google Adwords registration form.

The Google's AdSense program targets ads to keywords in articles and other content at participating sites, and complements the traditional AdWords program, which runs targeted ads alongside Google's search results.

The lawsuit accuses Google of defrauding advertisers out of millions of dollars collectively by "redefining the universally understood meaning of an input form left blank."

Almeida had signed up for Google ads to promote his private investigation business in Massachusetts. Because he did not want to buy AdSense ads, Almeida said he left the maximum per-click bid blank, believing "optional" meant he could opt out of the AdSense program by doing so.

Instead, it turned out the AdWords bid applied when he did not exercise that option, and that he should have put "zero" into the box to opt out, said his attorney, Brian Kabateck.

"Most of the customers that actually fall victim to this scam are the unsophisticated advertisers," Kabateck said.

Google has so far declined comment, saying it had not yet received the complaint.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose by Kabateck, Brown and Kellner, a law firm that has frequently filed consumer-protection lawsuits that seek multimillion dollar judgments or settlements. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and class-action status.

Kabateck estimated the unwanted advertising involved brings hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to Google, though he could not immediately say how much Almeida specifically lost.