Google cheated ad partners, says lawsuit, but case points to dirty tricks campaign

Someone claiming to be an ex-Google employee suggested in April that the company conspires to steal revenues from its partners who host Google-provided ads on their websites.

Now, a prominent Seattle-based lawyer who used to work for Microsoft is using those accusations as the basis for a nationwide class action lawsuit against Google. A company called Re-Post filed a class action complaint in San Francisco on behalf of other websites that are allegedly getting shortchanged by Google.

The complaint suggests this is part of a pattern: Google conspires to cheat those who use its AdSense program, which lets websites host ads provided by Google and share in the profits. Under the alleged scheme, Google waits until a few days before an AdSense partner is due to receive a quarterly pay-out, and then cites a policy violation in order to terminate their account. Terminating an account in this way lets Google keep all the money.

Critics of Google can find plenty to gnash their teeth about: from its repeated privacy flubs to its illegal pharma ads to its growing influence in Washington.

But a lawsuit claiming that Google is blatantly cheating and shutting down its AdSense partners, which contribute a good part of Google’s revenue, just doesn’t make much sense. Rather, this new lawsuit over ads, along with another improbable class action filed against Google in April, suggests that someone is running what amounts to a legal smear campaign.