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Small businesses claiming Google owes them money

On Behalf of | Jan 6, 2015 | Business Litigation

Business owners are likely to agree that if your company does work worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, it should get promptly paid.  And if payment is not prompt, it should be as soon as possible. But one California company says Google is refusing to pay nearly $1 million owed for ads placed with Google’s AdSense software.

The firm’s owner has filed a lawsuit against the tech giant in state court. He told Business Insider that he used AdSense to place Google search ads on his company’s website; ads he says resulted in 300 million views and 1.5 million clicks. In just one month in 2013, the ads generated about $1 million in revenue, he claims – money Google reportedly refuses to pay.

The owner said he received a notice from Google telling him that the layout of the ads encouraged accidental clicks, a practice forbidden by Google. He insists that the ads he placed are in the same format as long-running AdSense ads on major websites.

An attorney representing the plaintiff said Google engaged in bad faith practices by allowing his client’s company “to accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars in earnings without any warnings of improper practices.” Then Google flatly refused to pay any of the purported earnings, he said.

Four different firms told Business Insider that they are considering litigation against Google for similar reasons, including one claiming “it earned more $500,000 in a few weeks” before the search giant refused to pay.

These kinds of collections and creditors rights actions are common, though few generate such online attention. Regardless of the size of the amount in dispute or the party on the other side of the disagreement, the goal of an experienced California business attorney is to gain favorable results for a client, whether that is done in negotiations or at trial. 

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