Travel company sues Google's adsense

[GGpaul]

Travel company takes on Google's ad ban

I decided to share this since lately all I see are people getting banned from adsense. I don't know if this will change anything for everyone else that uses adsense, but I found this to be interesting.

[yukon]

Seriously?

The guy is suing because he didn't get $120?

He has too much free time on his hands.

[AlexTheKid]

Lol, wouldn't all the fees greatly exceed $120? What lawyer would take on this kind of case :P.

[paolocans]

Well, I am also banned before. That is good. At least there is a company that stands for the good of the many.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by AlexTheKid

Lol, wouldn't all the fees greatly exceed $120? What lawyer would take on this kind of case :P.

Exactly!

If I was Google I would bury him in counter suit legal fees just for wasting my time over $120.

[Whos That Guru]

I feel for them. & the people saying "why sue over 120 dollars"

Its pretty simple - It isnt about the money.

Its about standing up for honest publishers and forcing someone to look into the way Adsense does things.

If any company could monopolize the globe, its Google. So I think its about time people started saying "I dont give a damn how much money you have, I can still take legal action if you want to pull some shady sh*t"

I hope this guy wins, man I'd love it. I might not get what they owe me, but it would still be an awesome feeling to know that someone got back at them.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by Whos That Guru

I feel for them. & the people saying "why sue over 120 dollars"

Its pretty simple - It isnt about the money.

Its about standing up for honest publishers and forcing someone to look into the way Adsense does things.

If any company could monopolize the globe, its Google. So I think its about time people started saying "I dont give a damn how much money you have, I can still take legal action if you want to pull some shady sh*t"

I hope this guy wins, man I'd love it. I might not get what they owe me, but it would still be an awesome feeling to know that someone got back at them.

I guarantee buried in the TOS everyone that is running Adsense waived all rights when they clicked that signup button.

The guy is wasting his time, Google is smart enough to hire high dollar lawyers to create that TOS before it ever went public for any of us.

[Whos That Guru]

Probably, but its still a nuisance. I applaud the guy. Maybe he wins, maybe he loses. Either way, hes forcing Google to spend some cash on defense attorneys. All is well that ends well.

I'm sure he doesnt really think he will get his account back, nor the money that was lost.

Sounds to me like he just wants to inconvenience them like they have done to him, along with millions of other honest people.

[faridaziz]

Ha ha... way to go Mr. Bowyer!

"...accuse Google of unconscionable conduct - a legal definition that refers to harsh or unfair behaviour by a stronger party over a weaker party."

I love this sentence

[outwest]

I would not be so sure google will lose this one
Google and Microsoft are routinely sued all over the world, and they often lose

[Talen]

Google will settle out of court and probably pay the guy's legal fees. If this went to court it would cost Google tens of thousands of dollars...they will take the cheaper route.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by outwest

I would not be so sure google will lose this one
Google and Microsoft are routinely sued all over the world, and they often lose

Maybe, but they probably settle out of court depending on the court location. Don't they handle the case in the state/country that the suit is filed? For $120 it would be cheaper just to settle.

Then again, I've worked for an international business years ago, large companies never do anything low cost & practical, they waste a lot of money on silly overpriced things.

[bigp1612]

Seems like a good way to gain some publicity......

[outwest]

considering attorneys cost 300 bucks per hour, anything would be cheaper than that

[Mike Grant]

Originally Posted by yukon

I guarantee buried in the TOS everyone that is running Adsense waived all rights when they clicked that signup button.

The guy is wasting his time, Google is smart enough to hire high dollar lawyers to create that TOS before it ever went public for any of us.

Whatever is in the ToS does not mean it is legal and the contract will hold up in court. Paypal, for example, has been raped on this multiple times.

[dp40oz]

Originally Posted by yukon

I guarantee buried in the TOS everyone that is running Adsense waived all rights when they clicked that signup button.

The guy is wasting his time, Google is smart enough to hire high dollar lawyers to create that TOS before it ever went public for any of us.

I legally beat Myspace on a TOS violation. Ive talked about it a few times on this board. A TOS holds very little legal power. You can write whatever you want in a TOS, that doesn't mean its legal. I can write "Everyone who clicks on this owes me $500 and I have the right to take their car when I want", does't mean it holds up in court.

[RatRaceWatch]

I hope he wins too, I still cringe when I think they finalized $1880, and took it away. Guess finalized is a loose word eh?

[iAmNameLess]

Good for him.

As for an attorney that would take the case... there are many. I'm surprised a firm hasn't tried to file a class action suit yet. Even if the guy represents himself, it costs Google more just to defend it.

[craigslistleedz]

Here's a guy that sued Google for banning his adsense account and he won: Aaron Greenspan: Why I Sued Google (and Won) [Updated]

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by craigslistleedz

Here's a guy that sued Google for banning his adsense account and he won: Aaron Greenspan: Why I Sued Google (and Won) [Updated]

LOL!!! That Aaron Greenspan has made the rounds many times...
UNFORTUNATELY....people fail to see THE REST OF THE STORY:
Aaron Greenspan: Why Google Bothered to Appeal a $761 Small Claims Case (and Won)

Google appealed....AND WON!

Google gets sued a Brazillian times a day. And the point is..........?

They care more about getting sued for patents...something that
happens almost on a daily basis. One reason why they have been
buying companies to own as many patents as they can.

Silly people.

Why not post that this happens to Microsoft, Apple, IBM, etc.
also on an almost daily basis?

And when you read the fine print of the article the OP posted,
you will realize that the courts had already ruled in google's
favor. They are just trying for some end around BS. Court
will probably once again slap it down.

And life will go on.

Paul

[Fraggler]

The bloke in the OP is not suing Google. He has made an official complaint to Fair Trading and now has complained to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The ACCC takes care of it if they think Google is breaking their rules. ACCC have taken it to court, not the complainer.

[Fraggler]

Originally Posted by paulgl

And when you read the fine print of the article the OP posted,
you will realize that the courts had already ruled in google's
favor. They are just trying for some end around BS. Court
will probably once again slap it down.

If you are talking about the last paragraph you'll see the appeal they are talking about is a separate issue: Google misleading users' into thinking Google's ads are organic search results.

[outwest]

Where the Guy sued google and WON, and Then Google Appealed it and WON the appeal, the guy had trashed them in the Huffington post, and I think they got ticked off at the bad publicity
He had filed the case in small claims court so he had no attorneys fees


I do also think its noteworthy to mention that on appeal
Google won the appeal by saying that this guy basically
had his Adsense acct terminated for saying PICK A LINK
above his Adsense Ads

He was also Placing Adsense on Blank Domains with no content

[BigNorm]

Even if he did win we would never hear about it. Google would probably pay him to shut up.

[timpears]

Seems like more trouble than it is worth. But sometimes you have to take a stand. I don't know how it works in Australia, but if it was in the USA, I know if Google lost, they would just appeal until the plaintiff ran out of money to pursue the case.

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by Fraggler

If you are talking about the last paragraph you'll see the appeal they are talking about is a separate issue: Google misleading users' into thinking Google's ads are organic search results.

Yeah, true, but it means google had already beaten them once,
which is really what I should have said.

Point is, this stuff happens all the time. Where was the mania
when an xbox user sued MS for $500 billion?

Think that was silly? Exactly.

Paul

[kolbywhite28]

Originally Posted by yukon

I guarantee buried in the TOS everyone that is running Adsense waived all rights when they clicked that signup button.

The guy is wasting his time, Google is smart enough to hire high dollar lawyers to create that TOS before it ever went public for any of us.

This may not always be true. Some of the terms may contravene local laws and thereby render them ineffectual. Didn't someone else win a suit against Google some years back over a small matter similar to this?

[kolbywhite28]

Oops, it was posted before.

[outwest]

Originally Posted by kolbywhite28

Oops, it was posted before.

He won his case but he never got his money
He blabbed about it on Huffington post, it got picked up by NYtimes etc etc Google didnt like the negative publicity, they appealed the verdict

they won the appeal, the judge ended up giving the guy 0 dollars and 0 court costs

[evertd]

I would think this would make a perfect situation for a class action suit for banned publishers against adsense.

[discustipated]

Originally Posted by yukon

Seriously?

The guy is suing because he didn't get $120?

He has too much free time on his hands.

hehe they wont win ****. They will spend more on court cost. Google has there TOS down. lol It even states that they dont have to pay anyone. These people are stupid for thinking that they are going to get that money.

[discustipated]

[QUOTE=outwest;5268237]He won his case but he never got his money
He blabbed about it on Huffington post, it got picked up by NYtimes etc etc Google didnt like the negative publicity, they appealed the verdict

they won the appeal, the judge ended up giving the guy 0 dollars and 0 court costs

I didnt even bother reading the article but like you just said - Its stupid. No ones going to get **** from it. It would have cost them more in court cost anyways if they did when and google has there **** down. lol

[TolyZ]

If everyone sued google for their banned adsense accounts, may be we can make a change?
Honestly, dealing with google is like dealing with a wall. They don't care about you unless you are spending substantial amount of money with them. It's always a one way communication.

[outwest]

I actually do think this is a prime opportunity for a class action suit against google
not sure if it would be granted class action status though, since the situations vary for banning with each webmaster
but it would get their attention

[kolbywhite28]

Originally Posted by discustipated

It even states that they dont have to pay anyone.

This may have no effect if it contravenes the local laws.

[kolbywhite28]

If you can have a class action suit that requires Google to provide better customer service or that they must reveal the reasons for any ban (maybe suing for costs due to lost business, time or money), that would be great.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by outwest

He won his case but he never got his money
He blabbed about it on Huffington post, it got picked up by NYtimes etc etc Google didnt like the negative publicity, they appealed the verdict

they won the appeal, the judge ended up giving the guy 0 dollars and 0 court costs

That's funny.

Maybe the NY times or Huffington post, paid him $120 for his story?

The guy was definitely determined to get his $120 , lol!

I want my $2!

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[bhuff85]

It took me a minute after clicking the link to realize that in this instance, "smh" stood for the "Sydney Morning Herald".

[Fraggler]

Originally Posted by yukon

Maybe the NY times or Huffington post, paid him $120 for his story?

The bloke who lost his $120 is Australian and not suing Google. The Huffington post is a completely different case.

The $120 guy made an official complaint to the ACCC who has decided to take Google to court - and no doubt there is more to it then just this case.

The ACCC is an Australia government organisation.

[outwest]

I think everyone reading this thread should read both the story of the guy suing google and then the story where google appealed it and won. VERY INTERESTING stories about Googles attorneys, the judges questions and reactions

Initially when He sued Google he did it in small claims court. There are no attorneys allowed. (I am sure Google hated this) So his costs were only about 40 dollars court costs and obviously he represented himself. Google sent a legal assistant or some other lowly person on this case.

In the appeal. Google brought both their attorneys AND a Google Engineer (who the judge failed to call as a witness) I think its VERY interesting both these stories


Travel company takes on Google's ad ban

Aaron Greenspan: Why Google Bothered to Appeal a $761 Small Claims Case (and Won)

[Ammy Tisdale]

Originally Posted by GGpaul

Travel company takes on Google's ad ban

I decided to share this since lately all I see are people getting banned from adsense. I don't know if this will change anything for everyone else that uses adsense, but I found this to be interesting.

How can a travel company contest a case against the such a Giant?

[outwest]

Originally Posted by Ammy Tisdale

How can a travel company contest a case against the such a Giant?

Easy just file a small claims case
Google is not allowed to bring attorneys for small claims, (nor is the plaintiff)

[chrislangley]

I don't think the company suing is going to make much of a difference, Google can terminate an account for any reason according to its terms

[nicnac03]

Not for having brown eyes they can't

[iAmNameLess]

Originally Posted by chrislangley

I don't think the company suing is going to make much of a difference, Google can terminate an account for any reason according to its terms

Yeah, but like in the article, any reason, is a reason, but no reason is against their own terms. If they can't show up and prove the reason, then its useless.

A class action would be perfect... its something that could generate enough publicity that it may make them change things.

[hcl_23]

I agree with you. A class action would be perfect.

It is not all about money. There is something called pride.

Yukon: Would you like if someone calls you fraud and cheater without any reason or doesn't give reason?? Don't spread your BS. If you are not breaking any TOS of google your sites would probably never see the first page of google results.

Originally Posted by iAmNameLess

Yeah, but like in the article, any reason, is a reason, but no reason is against their own terms. If they can't show up and prove the reason, then its useless.

A class action would be perfect... its something that could generate enough publicity that it may make them change things.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by hcl_23

I agree with you. A class action would be perfect.

It is not all about money. There is something called pride.

Yukon: Would you like if someone calls you fraud and cheater without any reason or doesn't give reason?? Don't spread your BS. If you are not breaking any TOS of google your sites would probably never see the first page of google results.

Would you like it If someone gave you instructions (TOS) & you agreed to those TOS, then broke the TOS?

If you owned Google would you let people walk all over you & your sites/products? Didn't think so.

Google doesn't owe you anything, let it go.

[hcl_23]

I wouldn't like to break the TOS and why should I?

It is in Google TOS that they can ban for any reason but they don't give the reason of ban. Is this not against their own TOS?

Google does owe because they do not pay the banned publisher as well as the advertisers (however, they say so). Do you think this is fair??

Originally Posted by yukon

Would you like it If someone gave you instructions (TOS) & you agreed to those TOS, then broke the TOS?

If you owned Google would you let people walk all over you & your sites/products? Didn't think so.

Google doesn't owe you anything, let it go.

[Fraggler]

Here is an update on the bloke who made an official complaint to Fair Trading.

He had is account reinstated and lost amount fully refunded...

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/busi...205-1qzve.html

[alexmobile]

Once facebook will launch their own ad network and all publishers will have a real adsense alternative, then google and amazon may start treating us better