Click here to skip the legal notice and go straight to the Top Class Actions article on this class action lawsuit settlement.

Award (how much your claim may be worth): $20 (only paid out if you are no longer in business)

Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Case(s): Plaintiffs Crafts by Veronica, Mika’s Wedding, and True Communication, Inc. d/b/a Metrodate.com, et al. v. Yahoo! Inc., et al., Case No. CV 06-2737 CAS (FMOx), United States District Court for the Central District of California

Company(ies): Yahoo! Inc. 

Website Link to access the Class Action Lawsuit Settlement and get YOUR Stake (COMPLETE AND SUBMIT YOUR CLAIM FORM ONLINE HERE): Settlement Administrator Website

Address of Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Administrator to submit a claim form (NOT REQUIRED):

In re Yahoo! Settlement Administrator
c/o Rust Consulting, Inc.
P.O. Box 2241
Farib ault, MN 55021-1641

Phone Number to call for assistance: 1-877-434-3068

Details: This class action lawsuit settlement only pays out to individual class members who are no longer in business. If you paid for Yahoo! Pay-Per-Click ads and are no longer in business or wish to exclude yourself from the settlement (so you can participate in future class action lawsuit settlements against Yahoo! Pay-Per-Click marketing's practices) head over to the settlement administrator's website.

Purchased From: May 1, 2000 until September 22, 2009

Claims Accepted Until (YOU MUST SUBMIT YOUR CLAIM BY THIS DATE!): 3/22/10

MORE DETAILS BELOW!

Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Amount(s): $Unknown = $Unknown to the affected class (those out of business who will be eligible for $20 each) + $30,000 ($10,000 to each Lead/Named Plaintiff) +$4,170,000 Attorney Fees + $100,000 Expenses + $Unknown Settlement Administrator Charges

Settlement Administrator(s): Rust Consulting, Inc.

Plaintiff Counsel:

Michael J. Boni
Joshua D. Snyder
Boni & Zack LLC

Michael D. Donovan
Donovan Searles, LLC

Defense Counsel:

Larry W. McFarland, Esq.
Dennis L. Wilson, Esq.
Keats McFarland & Wilson LLP

TCA Staff Tidbit: This class action lawsuit settlement is an interesting one. It's a large settlement in theory, but, successful individual class members will not see very much of a benefit in our opinion. The relief in the settlement amounts to changes that all of the top Pay Per Click advertisers (Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft/Bing!) are already making which allows advertisers to exclude certain publishers like domain squatters from posting (and profiting from) their advertisements. It's interesting that in this class action settlement class members have the option of requesting to be excluded from the settlement online. Typically it's required that you send in your request to be excluded from the class action lawsuit settlement via the USPS. We believe that counsel on both sides (plaintiff and defense) are expecting a high number of class members to exclude themselves from the settlement. Why not? If the class member isn't going to receive any financial compensation there's little reason to stay within the affected class and be bound by this class action lawsuit settlement.

The challenge in this case and likely why none of us still in business are able to collect, is that the Terms of Service for Yahoo's marketing/pay per click advertising services are quite tight. They leave very little wiggle room for litigation like this. Will excluding yourself from the class allow you to make a claim in a future class action lawsuit against Yahoo's Pay-Per-Click advertising system? Most likely, yes. Will we see a big payment come out in the future? We're doubtful. Think long and hard on this one Top Class Actions viewers. If you want to keep your rights to be included in a future settlement against Yahoo you'll want to exclude yourself from the settlement through the settlement administrator's website. If you don't, you'll be bound by this settlement. Head over to the Settlement Administrator and make your decision. If you wish to exclude yourself from the class action lawsuit settlement you MUST submit your request online or it must be postmarked by 12/14/09.