Source: https://vi.scribd.com/document/225351072/Google-class-action-AdSense-payout-complaint
Timestamp: 2019-01-22 23:09:09
Document Index: 709533380

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 17200', '§ 1060', '§ 2201', '§ 1332', '§ 1391', '§ 1670', '§ 1671', '§ 17200', '§ 17200', '§ 1670', '§ 1671', '§ 17200', '§ 1060', '§ 1670', '§ 1671', '§ 1060', '§ 2201', '§ 2201']

Google class action AdSense payout complaint | Ad Sense | Class Action
COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF THE IMPLIED COVENANT OF GOOD FAITH AND FAIR DEALING, UNJUST ENRICHMENT, VIOLATION OF CALIFORNIA UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW, AND FOR RELIEF PURSUANT TO THE CALIFORNIA DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACT AND THE FEDERAL DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACT
Digital Envoy Inc., v. Google Inc., - Document No. 99
CorpCounsel_1111_LimitationsOnLiability_FullPresentation
United States of America, for the Use and Benefit of Roper, Ibg, a Division of Roper Corporation v. A.I. Reisz and National Surety Corporation, 718 F.2d 1004, 11th Cir. (1983)
Class Action Lawsuit - Amira Walnuts Recall
2. British Airways v. CA_Case.docx
Cathleen Murray, Shelly Wilson v. Charles Auslander, Acting Administrator of Dfcs District 11, State of Florida, Agency for Health Care Administration, by the Highest Ranking Official, 244 F.3d 807, 11th Cir. (2001)
Bernard A. Kaplan James J. Shipley Norma Kaplan Edward Englander v. Rca Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, 783 F.2d 463, 4th Cir. (1986)
010450-11 691407 V1
Telephone: (510) 725-3000
Facsimile: (510) 725-3001
Steve W. Berman (pro hac vice pending)
Robert F. Lopez (pro hac vice pending)
Telephone: (206) 623-7292
Facsimile: (206) 623-0594
FREE RANGE CONTENT, INC., a California
corporation, on behalf of itself and all others
COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF
CONTRACT, BREACH OF THE IMPLIED
DEALING, UNJUST ENRICHMENT,
VIOLATION OF CALIFORNIA UNFAIR
COMPETITION LAW, AND FOR RELIEF
DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACT AND
THE FEDERAL DECLARATORY
DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL OF ANY
ISSUES SO TRIABLE
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page1 of 22
CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT - i
II. JURISDICTION ...................................................................................................................... 2
III. PARTIES ................................................................................................................................. 3
IV. RELEVANT FACTS ............................................................................................................... 3
A. Google’s AdSense Program ........................................................................................ 3
B. Plaintiff’s and Proposed Class Members’ Bitter Experiences with Google’s
AdSense Program ........................................................................................................ 5
C. Reports from an Anonymous, Self-Described Former Employee of Google
Regarding Google’s Alleged Practice of Wrongfully Withholding Payment from
AdSense Publishers ..................................................................................................... 8
V. CLASS ALLEGATIONS ...................................................................................................... 10
VI. CLAIMS FOR RELIEF ......................................................................................................... 13
FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION BREACH OF CONTRACT ................................................. 13
SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION BREACH OF THE IMPLIED COVENANT OF
GOOD FAITH AND FAIR DEALING ................................................................................ 15
THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION UNJUST ENRICHMENT .................................................. 16
FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION VIOLATION OF THE UNFAIR COMPETITION
LAW (CAL. BUS. & PROF. CODE §§ 17200, et seq.) .............................................................. 16
FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION REQUEST FOR DECLARATORY RELIEF
(CALIFORNIA DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACT CAL. CIV. PROC. CODE § 1060) .................... 18
SIXTH CAUSE OF ACTION REQUEST FOR DECLARATORY RELIEF
(FEDERAL DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACT 28 U.S.C. § 2201(a)) ......................................... 18
PRAYER FOR RELIEF .................................................................................................................... 19
JURY TRIAL DEMANDED ............................................................................................................ 19
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page2 of 22
For its complaint against the defendant, plaintiff, on its own behalf and on behalf of all
others similarly situated, alleges as follows:
1. Google Inc. (“Google”) owns and operates the AdSense advertising program. By
way of this program, Google induces website operators to host advertisements on their websites in
exchange for the promise that Google will pay these website operators a share of the fees that
advertisers pay it. Under the terms of Google’s contracts with the operators of these hosting
websites, program participants earn money when visitors to their websites view or interact with the
ads that Google has placed there.
2. The AdSense program is enormously popular. This popularity translates annually to
billions of dollars payable to AdSense publishers – Google’s parlance for website operators that
host its ads. But as the plaintiff and many other publishers have found, Google often shuts down
AdSense accounts shortly before a periodic payment is due and then denies the publisher the
entirety of the expected payment, notwithstanding all the ads the publisher already has served to
visitors to its website during the payment period.
3. This practice has sparked numerous bitter complaints detailed at various places on
the web. For example, one self-described AdSense publisher stated the following: “It’s common
knowledge among SEOs that AdSense tends to be disabled a few days before the supposed payout.
I haven't lost any big sum – only $2000 but I know one person that lost $40,000. It was all
legitimate traffic coming straight from Google themselves, no click fraud no bought traffic etc. PS:
I was using AdSense from 2008 to 2013 – over 5 years so it’s not like only new users got banned.”
4. It is Google’s wrongful refusal to pay terminated AdSense publishers the monies
they have earned and are owed that is the subject of this lawsuit. Google’s actions constitute
breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust
enrichment, and violation of the California Unfair Competition Law.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7672910 (last accessed May 7, 2014).
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page3 of 22
5. Plaintiff, on behalf of itself and a proposed nationwide class, seeks damages based
on, and/or restitution of, the sums wrongfully withheld from it and members of the proposed class;
a declaration that Google’s adhesive contract terms purportedly allowing it to withhold all AdSense
funds owed to terminated publishers are unconscionable and unenforceable, and that they are
invalid and unenforceable penalties in violation of California law governing liquidated damages;
and injunctive relief to prevent Google from withholding payment to AdSense publishers under the
circumstances complained of going forward.
6. The Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2).
Upon information and belief, based on Google’s figures regarding the number of terminated
publishers and its policy of withholding monies owed to these publishers upon termination, the
amount in controversy in this proposed class action will exceed $5,000,000, exclusive of interest
and costs. Also, given the nationwide character of Google’s AdSense program, plaintiff alleges
upon information and belief that at least one member of the proposed class is a citizen of a state
other than California, where Google is a citizen, and further, that more than two-thirds of the
members of the proposed class are citizens of states other than California.
7. This Court has personal jurisdiction over the defendant because the defendant is
licensed to do business in the state of California and in fact conducts business in this state; also,
Google’s AdSense contract specifies that Google consents to personal jurisdiction “in the federal or
state courts of Santa Clara County, California, USA ….” (See, e.g.,
https://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms?rc=US&ce=1 (last accessed May 7, 2014).)
8. Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), inasmuch as
unlawful practices are alleged to have been committed in this federal judicial district, and the
defendant resides and regularly conducts business in this district.
9. Assignment to the San Jose division of this Court is appropriate because the
defendant has its headquarters in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California, which is located
in this division of the Northern District of California. Also, it is believed, and therefore alleged,
that many members of the proposed class reside or do business in the San Jose division of the
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page4 of 22
Northern District of California. Furthermore, Google’s AdSense contract specifies that claims such
as these will be “litigated exclusively in the federal or state courts of Santa Clara County,
California, USA ….” (See, e.g., https://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms?rc=US&ce=1
(last accessed May 7, 2014).)
10. Plaintiff Free Range Content, Inc. (“Free Range Content”) is a California
corporation that owns and operates Repost.us, a website where it formerly hosted ads for Google
advertisers under Google’s AdSense program.
11. Defendant Google is a Delaware corporation with its headquarters and principal
place of business in Mountain View, California. Google is America’s leader in Internet
advertising. It was number 55 on last year’s U.S. Fortune 500, with 2013 revenues of $55.2 billion
and profits of $10.737 billion.
A. Google’s AdSense Program
12. Google’s AdSense program affords Google, inter alia, the ability to sell to
advertisers web ads that will appear on various non-Google websites. (See, e.g.,
https://www.google.com/adsense/www/en_US/tour/index.html (last accessed May 7, 2014).)
13. Google contracts with operators of these websites to publish these ads in exchange
for a percentage of the sums paid by advertisers to place and run the ads. Thus, Google promises
to pay publishers when visitors to the publishers’ web properties view, click on, or otherwise
interact with these ads. (See, e.g., id.; see also Exs. A (true and correct copy of the current
AdSense Online Terms and Conditions, retrieved on May 20, 2014 from
https://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms?rc=US&ce=1), ¶ 5 (promise to pay)
; B (true and
correct copy of the AdSense Online Standard Terms and Conditions for the early July 2012
timeframe, when plaintiff became an AdSense program participant, retrieved on May 20, 2014
“Subject to this Section 5 and Section 10 of these AdSense Terms, you will receive a payment
related to the number of valid clicks on Ads displayed on your Properties, the number of valid
impressions of Ads displayed on your Properties, or other valid events performed in connection
with the display of Ads on your Properties, in each case as determined by Google.” (Id.)
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page5 of 22
from the Internet Archive via the Wayback Machine
(https://web.archive.org/web/20120706155053/https://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms)),
¶ 11 (promise to pay)
; and C (true and correct copy of the AdSense Online Terms of Service then
current when plaintiff’s AdSense account was disabled on or about March 1, 2014, retrieved on
May 20, 2014 from the Internet Archive via the Wayback Machine
(https://web.archive.org/web/20140220205332/https://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms)),
¶ 5 (promise to pay)
14. Google contracts with AdSense publishers consist of non-negotiable, adhesive terms
of participation. (See generally Exs. A, B, and C.) These contracts link to other non-negotiated
Google documents containing other adhesive terms.
15. Among these terms are provisions purportedly allowing Google to disable, i.e.,
terminate, publisher AdSense accounts for various reasons, at Google’s discretion. (See, e.g.,
Ex. A, ¶ 10; Ex. B, ¶¶ 6; Ex. C, ¶ 10.)
16. Also among these terms are provisions purportedly allowing Google not to pay
publishers for monies due them on their AdSense accounts upon Google’s disabling of those
accounts. (See, e.g., Ex. A, ¶¶ 5 (“Payments will be calculated solely based on our accounting.
Payments to you may be withheld to reflect or adjusted to exclude any amounts refunded or
credited to advertisers and any amounts arising from invalid activity, as determined by Google in
its sole discretion. . . .”), 10; Ex. B, ¶ 11 (“Google reserves the right to withhold payment or charge
back Your account due to any of the foregoing or any breach of this Agreement by You, pending
Google’s reasonable investigation of any of the foregoing or any breach of this Agreement by
You . . . .”); Ex. C, ¶¶ 5 (“Payments will be calculated solely based on our accounting. Payments
“You shall receive a payment related to the number of valid clicks on Ads, the number of
valid impressions of Ads, the number of valid completions of Referral Events initiated through
Referral Buttons displayed in connection with your Property(ies), and/or other events performed in
connection with the display of Ads on Your Property(ies), in each case as determined by Google
for participants in the Program.” (Id.)
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page6 of 22
to you may be withheld to reflect or adjusted to exclude any amounts refunded or credited to
advertisers and any amounts arising from invalid activity, as determined by Google in its sole
discretion . . . .”), 10.)
17. Google, by its own tally, has disabled a massive number of publisher accounts. For
example, in a January 17, 2014 post entitled “Inside AdWords, Google’s official blog for news tips
and information on AdWords” – a publication directed to the advertiser side of Google’s
advertising ecosystem – Google states that “by the end of 2013” it had “[r]emoved more than
250,000 ad-funded publishers’ accounts for various policy reasons.”
(http://adwords.blogspot.com/2014/01/busting-bad-advertising-practices-2013.html?m=1 (last
accessed May 7, 2014).) Given Google’s contractual terms purportedly permitting it to withhold
payment to publishers with disabled accounts, and in light of the experience of the plaintiff in
seeing this policy actually effected, the total of earned funds that Google has refused to pay its
AdSense publishers could be enormous.
B. Plaintiff’s and Proposed Class Members’ Bitter Experiences with Google’s AdSense
Plaintiff Free Range Content
18. Google has withheld monies due plaintiff Free Range Content under its AdSense
19. Plaintiff owns the Repost content syndication service and the website Repost.us. In
or about July 2012, plaintiff became an AdSense publisher for pages served on various websites
under its Repost.us brand.
20. All went well until February 2014, when estimated earnings for ads by the plaintiff,
as reported by Google, began to increase at a previously unseen rate. Plaintiff was took note of this
earnings spike and self-reported it to Google, asking for help to ascertain why it was happening and
also seeking aid to correct it as needed. Additionally, plaintiff attempted to identify the reason for
the spike on its own.
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page7 of 22
21. Shortly after the plaintiff reached out to Google, it received a note asking it to set up
an appointment to speak with a representative from the AdSense team. Plaintiff did as requested,
scheduling a call for March 6, 2014.
22. At the end of February 2014, Google issued a report stating that plaintiff’s estimated
earnings for the covered period were over $40,000. To the plaintiff, it seemed unlikely, based on
its history with the program, that the number was correct; it seemed far too high. But certainly the
plaintiff was due some substantial portion of those estimated earnings, amounting to several
thousands of dollars — perhaps in the $8,000 to $11,000 range — for AdSense ads it had dutifully
served during that final period before Google disabled its account. Indeed, Google’s own estimate
of plaintiff’s payable earnings, issued at or around the beginning of March 2014, put the number
for the covered period at over $11,000.
23. Then on March 4, 2014 — two days before the March 6, 2014 call with the AdSense
representative was to occur — plaintiff received word from the AdSense program that Google had
disabled its account. Google offered no explanation, other than a reference to its supposed
detection of “invalid activity in [plaintiff’s] AdSense account.” As Google put it: “We’re limited
in the amount of information we can provide about your specific violation. We understand this can
be frustrating for you, but we’ve taken precautionary measures because intentional violators can
use this information to circumvent our detection systems.”
24. Plaintiff was shocked to hear of its account termination, given that it had itself
alerted Google to a potential problem with its account and sought in good faith to identify and
correct whatever problem there actually might be. It promptly filed in writing the appeal
referenced in the termination notice. By way of this appeal, plaintiff sought not only reinstatement
of its account but the earnings owed it and withheld by Google.
25. Also, plaintiff’s telephone conference with the Google AdSense representative took
place as planned on March 6, 2014. During this call, the AdSense representative sounded
sympathetic but made it plain that he had no control over the matter. The representative also
indicated that plaintiff would be paid its earnings for the last payment period only if Google
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page8 of 22
granted its appeal. Shortly thereafter, plaintiff received a terse letter from Google, dated March 7,
2014, rejecting its appeal.
26. Now, having disabled plaintiff’s AdSense account, Google refused to pay plaintiff
any of the sums it owed plaintiff for having served many thousands of AdSense ads on
Repost.com-branded webpages during the last pay period. Google made no attempt to limit what it
withheld, whether based on an assessment of the time-scope of the apparent problem with
plaintiff’s AdSense account, the number of pages and ads that may have been affected, or
otherwise — Google simply withheld all of plaintiff’s earnings for the last payment period.
Other Publishers, Similar Experiences
27. Google’s wrongful refusal to pay publishers terminated from the AdSense program
any of the sums owed to them for serving ads since the last program payment has spawned a
plethora of bitter complaints detailed at various places on the web. For example, one self-
described AdSense publisher stated the following: “It’s common knowledge among SEOs that
AdSense tends to be disabled a few days before the supposed payout. I haven't lost any big sum –
only $2000 but I know one person that lost $40,000. It was all legitimate traffic coming straight
from Google themselves, no click fraud no bought traffic etc. PS: I was using AdSense from 2008
to 2013 – over 5 years so it’s not like only new users got banned.”
(https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7672910 (last accessed May 7, 2014.) Another reported in
Oh joy, I just got this dreaded email this morning. I've spent since December
creating 85 niche sites and generated around $400 so far, none of which I'm going to
receive now because my account is disabled.
I'm just starting to go through my sites and try to figure out WHY and here are a
couple of things I have noticed so far.
On my latest batch of 11 sites I forgot to disable adsense on the privacy policy and
contact page (i only activated adsense on these sites 24 hours ago so they are my
prime suspects)
On some of my earliest sites I only made the contact page available via the privacy
policy page, so I'll need to improve the navigation on those sites.
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page9 of 22
Apart from that, I honestly can't see why my entire account was killed. I was
receiving normal amounts of clicks based on the traffic I was getting so I don't think
I had invalid click activity. . . .
(http://empireflippers.com/adsense-account-disabled/ (last accessed May 8, 2014).) Numerous
similar reports abound.
C. Reports from an Anonymous, Self-Described Former Employee of Google Regarding
Google’s Alleged Practice of Wrongfully Withholding Payment from AdSense
28. On April 29, 2014, an anonymous, self-described “former Google employee” took
to the web to “leak information to the public of what [he or she] witnessed and took part in while
being an employee.” (http://pastebin.com/qh6Tta3h (last accessed May 7, 2014).) The individual
wrote that “[his or her] position was to deal with AdSense accounts, more specifically the accounts
of publishers (not advertisers).” (Id.) The individual indicates that he or she is keeping his or her
identity a secret for now, and he or she did not reveal the subject information sooner, because of
“[h]aving signed many documents such as NDA’s and non-competes,” and out of fear of “many
repercussions …., especially in the form of legal retribution from Google.” (Id.)
29. The individual goes on to describe an alleged first-quarter 2009 Google AdSense
division meeting in which “division higher ups” participated. (Id.) In this “very long meeting,”
according to this individual, there was discussion to the effect that “Google had suffered some very
serious losses in the financial department several months earlier.” (Id.) The upshot was that
Google was going to “‘carry out extreme quality control on AdSense publishers.’” (Id.) This was
said to mean that “AdSense itself hands out too many checks each month to publishers, and that the
checks were too large and that needed to end right away.” (Id.) Other “smaller meetings”
reportedly followed, and “the word was,” according to this individual, that “they [Google] were
planning to cut off a large portion of publisher’s payments.” (Id.)
30. Purportedly, “the first big batch of bans happened in March of 2009. The main
reason, the publishers made too much money. But something quite devious happened.” (Id.)
According to this individual, “[w]e were told to begin banning accounts that were close to their
payout period (which is why account bans never occur immediately after a payout). The purpose
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page10 of 22
was to get that money owed to publishers back to Google AdSense, while already having served up
the ads to the public.” (Id.)
31. According to this individual, “[f]rom 2009 to 2012 there were many more big
batches of bans. The biggest of all banning sessions occurred in April 2012. The AdSense
division had enormous pressure from the company to make up for financial losses, and for
Google’s lack of reaching certain internal financial goals for the quarter prior.” (Id.) Purportedly,
Google AdSense employees “were threatened with job losses if we didn’t enforce the company’s
wishes.” (Id.)
32. After “[s]everal publishers [reportedly] launched legal actions which were settled,”
Google, according to this individual, “came up with a new policy.” (Id.) This policy purportedly
was “officially called AdSense Quality Control Color codes (commonly called AQ3C by
employees).” (Id.). According to this individual, “[t]hose publisher’s [sic] that could do the most
damage by having their account banned were placed in a VIP group that was to be left alone. The
rest of the publishers would be placed into other groupings accordingly.” (Id.) He or she also
states that “[t]he new AQ3C also implemented ‘quality control’ quotas for the account auditors, so
if you didn’t meet the ‘quality control’ target (aka account bans) you would be called in for a
performance review.” (Id.)
33. The author of the post goes on to describe four groups, segregated by color,
requiring various levels of attention from AdSense employees. These purportedly ranged from
urgent (red) to VIP (green), the latter of which he or she describes as the “‘untouchables.’” (Id.)
AdSense publishers in these four groups purportedly were subject to differing degrees of scrutiny,
with publishers placed in the three non-green groups being subject to “ban[]s” for various
“reason[s],” (id.) All bans were to “occur as close to a payout period as possible with the most
amount of money accrued,” according to the anonymous poster. (Id.)
34. The individual goes on to write of a purported scheme whereby Google also used
skewed “Google Analytics” data to bilk publishers out of some or all of the money owed them.
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page11 of 22
35. Google has denied these allegations made by the anonymous poster. (E.g.,
http://www.zdnet.com/adsense-leak-controversy-heats-up-as-google-denies-favoritism-theft-
allegations-7000028913/ (last accessed May 7, 2014).)
36. An individual purporting to be the same anonymous poster has replied to Google’s
denial. (http://pastebin.com/DXTu8Mcm (last accessed May 20, 2014).) This individual purports
to take back nothing from the previous post and claims to “have communications, … files, … lists,
… [and] names.” (Id.) The individual indicates that he or she will release “it [his or her
information and material] to the legal representatives of the class action lawsuit against Google in
regards to AdSense,” if such an action is brought. (Id.)
37. True and correct copies of the original April 29, 2014 post, and the second
referenced post, dated April 30, 2014, are attached as Exhibits D and E, respectively.
38. As of the date of this complaint, plaintiff cannot confirm the veracity of the
allegations made by the individual or individuals in these two posts. If true, the posts could help to
illuminate why Google took such harsh and unfair action against the plaintiff, notwithstanding its
good faith efforts to comply with Google’s policies. They also could help to explain why so many
publishers have complained of similar actions on the part of Google. But in any event, if the
information in the referenced two posts does not prove to be true either in whole or part, Google
nonetheless has behaved unlawfully in refusing to pay publishers, including the plaintiff, sums
earned by them for serving AdSense ads in the period prior to Google’s disabling of those
publishers’ accounts.
V. CLASS ALLEGATIONS
39. Plaintiff brings this action under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(1), (2), and (3).
40. Plaintiff brings this action on behalf of itself and the following class, for damages,
declaratory, and injunctive relief:
All U.S. Google AdSense publishers whose AdSense account was disabled or
terminated, and whose last earned AdSense program payment was withheld in its
entirety, and permanently, by Google.
Excluded from this proposed class is the defendant; defendant’s affiliates and subsidiaries;
defendant’s current or former employees, officers, directors, agents, and representatives; and the
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page12 of 22
district judge or magistrate judge to whom this case is assigned, as well as those judges’ immediate
family members. Plaintiff will seek to amend this proposed class as necessary, or to add a class or
classes as necessary, in order to obtain all the relief sought by way of this complaint.
41. Numerosity: The exact number of the members of the proposed class is unknown
and is not available to the plaintiff at this time, but, upon information and belief, the class will
consist of many tens or even hundreds of thousands of members, such that individual joinder in this
case is impracticable.
42. Commonality: Numerous questions of law and fact are common to the claims of
the plaintiff and members of the proposed class. These include, but are not limited to:
a. Whether Google withholds earned funds from publishers whose accounts it
disables or terminates, purportedly under terms of its AdSense contracts with those publishers;
b. Whether terms of Google’s AdSense contracts purportedly giving Google
the right to withhold earned funds from website publishers participating in its AdSense program are
unconscionable and unenforceable;
c. Whether the terms of Google’s AdSense contracts purportedly giving
Google the right to withhold earned funds from website publishers participating in its AdSense
program are actually liquidated damages terms that set forth penalties in violation of California law
on liquidated damages, such that they are unenforceable;
d. Whether Google has breached its AdSense contracts with publishers by
refusing to pay them monies earned for serving ads on their websites;
e. Whether Google has breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair
dealing in administering its AdSense contracts in and following termination actions with its
AdSense publishers;
f. Whether plaintiff and members of the proposed class are entitled to
declaratory relief with respect to the illegality of the terms of Google’s AdSense contracts insofar
as they purport to allow Google to withhold monies earned from AdSense program publishers, and
injunctive relief in order to halt that unlawful practice, and whether plaintiff and the proposed class
are entitled to their attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses for securing such relief;
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page13 of 22
g. Whether plaintiff and members of the proposed class are entitled to any
damages or restitution, including payments of AdSense program payments wrongfully withheld
from them by Google, and to their attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses related to any recovery of
such monetary relief; and
h. Whether plaintiff and members of the proposed class are entitled to any
damages or restitution incidental to the declaratory or injunctive relief they seek, and to their
attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses related to any recovery of such monetary relief.
43. Typicality: Plaintiff’s claims are typical of the claims of the members of the
proposed class. The factual and legal bases of Google’s liability are the same and resulted in injury
to plaintiff and all of the other members of the proposed class.
44. Adequate representation: Plaintiff will represent and protect the interests of the
proposed class both fairly and adequately. Plaintiff has retained counsel competent and
experienced in complex class-action litigation. Plaintiff has no interests that are antagonistic to
those of the proposed class, and its interests do not conflict with the interests of the proposed class
members it seeks to represent.
45. Prevention of inconsistent or varying adjudications: If prosecution of a myriad
of individual actions for the conduct complained of were undertaken, there likely would be
inconsistent or varying results. This would have the effect of establishing incompatible standards
of conduct for the defendant. Certification of plaintiff’s proposed class would prevent these
46. Injunctive and declaratory relief: By way of its conduct described in this
complaint, the defendant has acted on grounds that apply generally to the proposed class.
Furthermore, the defendant purports to apply common contractual terms in effecting the actions
complained of with respect to members of the proposed class. Accordingly, the injunctive and
declaratory relief requested are appropriate respecting the class as a whole.
47. Predominance and superiority: This proposed class action is appropriate for
certification. Class proceedings on these facts and this law are superior to all other available
methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of this controversy, given that joinder of all
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page14 of 22
members is impracticable. Even if members of the proposed class could sustain individual
litigation, that course would not be preferable to a class action because individual litigation would
increase the delay and expense to the parties due to the complex factual and legal controversies
present in this matter. Here, the class action device will present far fewer management difficulties,
and it will provide the benefit of a single adjudication, economies of scale, and comprehensive
supervision by this Court. Further, uniformity of decisions will be ensured.
APPLICATION OF CALIFORNIA LAW
48. Plaintiff’s state-law claims in this matter, and those of the proposed class, are
governed by California law per the terms of Google’s AdSense contracts. (Ex. A, ¶ 14; Ex. B,
¶ 17; Ex. C, ¶ 14.)
49. Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations in the above paragraphs as if fully
50. Plaintiff and members of the proposed class entered into contracts with Google
regarding their participation in Google’s AdSense program. (See Exs. A, B, and C.)
51. These AdSense contracts contain terms promising that Google will pay publishers
for, inter alia, serving ads on their websites sold by Google to various advertisers. (Ex. A, ¶ 5;
Ex. B, ¶ 11; Ex. C, ¶ 5.)
52. Plaintiff and publisher-members of the proposed class have performed under the
AdSense contract by, inter alia, serving the subject ads on their websites. But in turn, Google,
purportedly relying on other terms of the contracts, refuses to pay these publishers funds already
owed them upon its disabling of their accounts.
53. The contractual terms purporting to permit Google to withhold payment of funds
owed to publishers whose accounts it disables, see Ex. A, ¶¶ 5, 10, Ex. B, ¶ 11, and Ex. C, ¶¶ 5, 10,
which Google reads and applies as permitting it to withhold such funds in their entirety, are
unconscionable. Accordingly, they are unenforceable. See CAL. CIV. CODE § 1670.5(a). These
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page15 of 22
oppressive terms appear in contracts of adhesion that were foisted upon small businesses and
individuals with no bargaining power by a giant and powerful corporation, Google, that drafted
them and presented them as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. There was no negotiation, and there
was an absence of meaningful choice. Furthermore, these terms are so one-sided as to shock the
conscience; they are harsh and oppressive in that they purport, according to Google itself, to give it
the right to withhold upon disabling of a publisher’s AdSense account all unpaid sums already
earned by the publisher for having served AdSense advertisements on its website(s) in the period
prior to account termination, however limited in scope or time the supposed offense or policy
violation might have been. As such, these terms are unconscionable and, therefore, unenforceable.
54. Furthermore, these terms constitute invalid provisions for liquidated damages. CAL.
CIV. CODE § 1671(b). Under California law governing liquidated damages provisions, the terms in
question constitute penalties in that the sums Google can purportedly withhold from publishers,
i.e., all sums earned by them for serving AdSense ads in the period prior to termination of their
accounts, bear no reasonable relationship to any actual damages or injury that Google might have
suffered from the supposed breach of the AdSense contracts by publishers. No matter how limited
the supposed offense, Google can (and does) refuse to pay all the funds owed, notwithstanding all
the performance on the part of the publisher in the payment period prior to Google’s disabling of
its account. Thus, these terms were unreasonable under the circumstances existing at the time the
contract was made, rendering them invalid and unenforceable. See id.
55. With these payment-withholding terms stricken from the contracts as unenforceable,
Google’s liability to plaintiff and the proposed class for breach of contract is stark.
56. Plaintiff and members of the proposed class have been damaged by Google’s breach
of contract in the amount of sums owed to them but not paid when their AdSense accounts were
disabled, together with pre-judgment interest.
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57. Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations in the above paragraphs as if fully
58. There exists in every contract, including Google’s AdSense agreements with the
plaintiff and members of the proposed class, an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
59. Google violated this covenant by terminating the plaintiff’s AdSense agreement for
purported violations of its policies, even though the plaintiff endeavored at all times to comply with
Google’s policies and itself brought potential issues to Google’s attention so that it could resolve
them to Google’s satisfaction. Next, Google compounded its violation of the covenant by
withholding all sums payable to the plaintiff for ads already served on its website during the period
prior to its account being disabled. Google made no effort whatsoever to limit the funds it refused
to pay to the plaintiff in any way. For example, Google did not limit the funds it withheld to ads
appearing on specific webpages, nor did it limit its action to a specific time period when activity
that purportedly violated its policies had occurred. Instead, Google refused to pay anything to
plaintiff for the final pay period. Upon information and belief, other members of the proposed
class, have suffered similar fates and violations of the covenant.
60. As alleged in the preceding cause of action, Google’s contractual terms purportedly
allowing it to refuse to pay publishers funds already earned at the time of disablement of their
accounts are unenforceable because they are unconscionable and invalid liquidated damages
provisions. Accordingly, it is with respect to the remainder of the AdSense contract terms,
including those requiring payment for ads served, see Ex. A, ¶ 5, Ex. B, ¶ 11, and Ex. C, ¶ 5, that
Google has breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
61. Plaintiff and members of the proposed class have been damaged by Google’s breach
of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the amount of sums owed to them but not
paid when their AdSense accounts were disabled, together with pre-judgment interest.
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62. Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations in the above paragraphs as if fully
63. To the detriment of plaintiff and the proposed class, Google has been and continues
to be unjustly enriched as a result of the unlawful and/or wrongful conduct alleged herein. More
specifically, Google has been unjustly benefited by retaining, purportedly on the basis of
unconscionable, invalid, and unenforceable AdSense contract terms, monies due and payable to
publishers, including the plaintiff and members of the proposed class, for serving on their websites
advertisements sold by Google to various advertisers.
64. As between the plaintiff and the proposed class on one hand, and Google on the
other, it would be unjust for Google to retain the benefits attained by its wrongful actions.
Moreover, even if Google remitted some or all of the withheld funds to its advertisers, it did so by
its wrongful choice, to the publishers’ detriment, after first wrongfully choosing to withhold all of
the sums payable to publishers when it terminated their accounts. Thus, Google remains liable to
plaintiff and members of the proposed class for these funds. Accordingly, plaintiff and members of
the proposed class seek full restitution of the referenced sums which Google withheld from them
and by which Google was unjustly enriched, together with pre-judgment interest, or the value of
the benefit by which Google was unjustly enriched, based on the wrongful conduct alleged herein.
(CAL. BUS. & PROF. CODE §§ 17200, et seq.)
65. Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations in the above paragraphs as if fully
66. Plaintiff brings this claim on its own behalf and on behalf of each member of the
proposed nationwide class described above.
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67. California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”) defines unfair competition to include
any “unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent” business act or practice. CAL. BUS. & PROF. CODE §§ 17200,
68. Google has engaged in, and, upon information and belief, continues to engage in,
acts of unlawful and unfair business acts and practices prohibited by California’s UCL. These acts
include the inducing of AdSense publishers to serve ads on their websites for Google advertisers on
the promise of payment to the publishers of a share of the money paid to Google by the advertisers
for that service; causing publishers to serve those ads on their websites; disabling publisher
accounts before monies earned for serving those ads are due to be paid; and then withholding not
some, but all, of the funds due to the publishers for serving ads during the final payment period,
without any attempt to limit, let alone rationally limit, the sum withheld.
69. Google’s conduct has harmed plaintiff and members of the proposed class. Despite
publishers’ actions, including those of the plaintiff, to comply with Google’s policies and to act in
good faith in response to any notices from Google of policy infringements, Google refuses to pay
publishers, including the plaintiff, what is owed them for serving ads during the period prior to
disabling the publishers’ accounts. It simply withholds all the monies due, however limited in
scope or time a purported policy violation, or a publisher’s supposed offense, may be.
70. Google so acts on the basis of contractual terms purportedly permitting such
conduct, but which actually violate California law (a) making unlawful and unenforceable
contractual terms that are unconscionable; and (b) rendering unlawful and unenforceable invalid
provisions for liquidated damages. See CAL. CIV. CODE § 1670.5(a); CAL. CIV. CODE § 1671(b).
Furthermore, Google’s actions are patently unfair; as described above, Google withholds all
monies due to publishers for performance already rendered when Google terminates the publishers’
accounts, no matter how limited in scope or time the supposed offense identified by Google that
led to termination. Google’s unlawful and unfair business acts and practices as described herein
demonstrate unfair competition in violation of California’s UCL. See CAL. CIV. CODE § 17200
(“[U]nfair competition shall mean and include any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or
practice . . . .”).
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CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT - 18
71. Under the UCL, plaintiff and the proposed class are entitled to restitution of the
monies owed them for their performance under the AdSense program, but retained by Google
wrongfully, together with pre-judgment interest, and to an injunction barring Google from
withholding in the future all such funds owed to AdSense publishers whose accounts it disables.
(CALIFORNIA DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACT CAL. CIV. PROC. CODE § 1060)
72. Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations in the above paragraphs as if fully
73. Google’s contractual terms purportedly permitting it to withhold all funds owed to
AdSense publishers when Google disables their AdSense accounts violate California law as set
forth herein. As alleged herein and otherwise, these contractual terms are (a) unconscionable and
(b) constitute invalid provisions for liquidated damages. Accordingly, they are unenforceable.
See, e.g., CAL. CIV. CODE § 1670.5(a); CAL. CIV. CODE § 1671(b). Yet Google purports to rely on
these terms in withholding funds from AdSense publishers; accordingly, there is an actual
controversy between the plaintiff and class members on the one hand, and Google on the other.
74. Pursuant to CAL. CIV. PROC. CODE § 1060 and otherwise, plaintiff and members of
the proposed class are entitled to an order declaring these terms unconscionable, invalid, and
unenforceable as against them and all AdSense publishers.
(FEDERAL DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACT 28 U.S.C. § 2201(a))
75. Plaintiff incorporates by reference the allegations in the above paragraphs as if fully
76. Google’s contractual terms purportedly permitting it to withhold all funds owed to
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1 Filed05/20/14 Page20 of 22
CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT - 19
77. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201(A) and otherwise, plaintiff and members of the
proposed class are entitled to an order declaring these terms unconscionable, invalid, and
A. That the Court certify this case as a class action on the nationwide basis requested,
and that it appoint plaintiff as class representative and its counsel to be class counsel;
B. That the Court award it and the proposed class all appropriate relief, including
monetary relief, whether by way of restitution or damages, together with pre-judgment interest at
the highest rate permitted by law, as well as injunctive relief requiring that Google cease the
practices with respect to its AdSense program complained of herein, and declaratory relief,
adjudging such practices and the contractual terms upon which Google purports to rely unlawful
and unenforceable, in addition to recovery of its attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses;
C. That the Court grant it and the proposed class such additional orders or judgments as
may be necessary to redress or prevent the unlawful practices complained of herein; and
D. That the Court award it and the proposed class such other, favorable relief as may be
available and appropriate under federal or state law, or at equity.
DATED: May 20, 2014 HAGENS BERMAN SOBOL SHAPIRO LLP
By /s/ Jeff D. Friedman
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CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT - 20
LEVETOWN & JENKINS, LLP
By /s/ John Jenkins
John Jenkins (CA Bar No. 161959)
4675 MacArthur Court, Suite 1470
Telephone: (866) 237-1014
Facsimile: (866) 278-2973
john@levjen.com
Telephone: (202) 379-4899
alevetown@levjen.com
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PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND THE
FAQ BEFORE REGISTERING FOR THE GOOGLE ADSENSE ONLINE PROGRAM.
PARTICIPATION IN THE GOOGLE ADSENSE ONLINE PROGRAM INDICATES
THAT YOU ACCEPT THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IF YOU DO NOT
ACCEPT THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, PLEASE DO NOT REGISTER FOR
OR PARTICIPATE IN THE GOOGLE ADSENSE ONLINE PROGRAM.
Introduction. This agreement ("Agreement") between You and Google Inc. ("Google")
consists of these Google AdSense Online Program (the "Program") Standard Terms and
Conditions ("Terms and Conditions"). A description of the Program, as generally offered by
Google, is available at the Program Frequently Asked Questions ("FAQ") URL, located
at https://www.google.com/adsense/faq, or such other URL as Google may provide from time
to time. "You" or "Publisher" means any entity identified in an enrollment form submitted by
the same or affiliated persons, and/or any agency or network acting on its (or their) behalf,
which shall also be bound by the terms of this Agreement.
1. Program Participation. Participation in the Program is subject to Google’s prior
approval and Your continued compliance with the Program Policies ("Program
Policies"), located at https://www.google.com/adsense/policies, and/or such other URL
as Google may provide from time to time. Google reserves the right to refuse
participation to any applicant or participant at any time in its sole discretion. By
enrolling in the Program, You represent that You are at least 18 years of age and agree
that Google may serve (a) third party and/or Google provided advertisements and/or
other content (such third party provided advertisements, Google provided
advertisements and other content, collectively, "Ads"), provided, however, that if
Google serves non-compensated content, You will have the ability to opt out of
receiving such content as part of the Program, (b) related Google queries and/or Ad
search box(es) (collectively, “Links”), (c) Google Web and/or Site search results
(collectively, "Search Results"), and/or (d) Google referral Ads (“Referral Buttons”),
each in connection with the Web site(s), media player(s), video content and/or mobile
content that You designate, or such other properties expressly authorized in writing by
Google (including by electronic mail) (such other properties, “Other Properties”), and
the Atom, RSS, or other feeds distributed through such Web site(s) , media player(s),
video content, mobile content and/or Other Properties (each such Web site, media
player, video content, mobile content, Other Property or feed, a "Property"). For the
avoidance of doubt, any reference in this Agreement or the Program Policies to an
individual “Web page”, “Web site”, “Web site page” or the like that is part of the
Property will also mean feeds and media players distributed through such Web site.
Multiple accounts held by the same individual or entity are subject to immediate
termination unless expressly authorized in writing by Google (including by electronic
mail). In some circumstances expressly authorized in writing by Google (including by
electronic mail), You may enroll in the Program and create an account for the sole
purpose of receiving payment from Google, and not, for purposes of clarification, for
the purpose of displaying Ads, Links, Search Results and/or Referral Buttons on a
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1-2 Filed05/20/14 Page2 of 11
Property. If, however, You subsequently use your Account to participate in the
Program (i.e. for the purpose of displaying Ads, Links, Search Results and/or Referral
Buttons on a Property), then such use of the Program will be governed by the terms of
this Agreement. You must have and abide by an appropriate privacy policy that clearly
discloses that third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your users’ browser,
or using web beacons to collect information, in the course of ads being served on your
website. Your privacy policy should also include information about user options for
2. Implementation and Operation of Ads, Search Results, and Referrals. You agree to
comply with the specifications provided by Google from time to time to enable proper
delivery, display, tracking, and reporting of Ads, Links, Search Results, Referral
Buttons, and Google Brand Features (as defined in Section 12 below) in connection
with Your Property(ies), including without limitation by not modifying the JavaScript
or other programming provided to You by Google in any way, unless expressly
authorized in writing by Google (including by electronic mail).
o AdSense for Search. If You have elected to receive Search Results, You will
display on Your Property(ies) a Google search box (a "Search Box") in
accordance with the specifications provided by Google. Except for related
Google queries, all search queries (including queries entered into an Ad search
box) must originate from individual human end users inputting data directly into
a Search Box (or Ad search box, as applicable) on Your Property(ies). You will
send any and all queries (without editing, filtering, truncating, appending terms
to or otherwise modifying such queries individually or in the aggregate) to
Google and Google will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide You
with corresponding Search Results and/or Ads, as applicable and as available.
Search Results and any accompanying Ads will be displayed on Web pages that
may be hosted by Google (each, a "Search Results Page"), and the format, look
and feel of those Web pages hosted by Google may be modified by Google from
o AdSense for Content. All content and Property-based Ads (and Ads served in
response to end user clicks on and queries entered into Links, if any) shall be
grouped by Google and displayed with Links (where applicable) to end users of
the Property(ies) as ad units (such groups of Ads and/or Links collectively
referred to as "Ad Units") in standard formats as offered generally by Google
from time to time, as may be described in the FAQ. You may select a format
approved by Google for the display of Ad Units in connection with the
Property(ies), but You acknowledge and agree that Ads and/or Links: (i) shall
only be displayed in connection with the Property(ies), each of which is subject
to review and approval by Google in its discretion at any time; and (ii) shall be
subject to the placement guidelines set forth herein.
o Referrals. If You have elected to use the Google AdSense Referrals feature,
You will implement any Referral Buttons on Your Property(ies) in accordance
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1-2 Filed05/20/14 Page3 of 11
with the specifications provided by Google. End users who click on a Referral
Button will be directed to a Web page that may be hosted by Google (“Referral
Page”), and the format, look and feel of those Web pages hosted by Google may
be modified by Google from time to time. A “Referral Event” will be initiated
when an end user clicks on a Referral Button from the Property and will be
completed when the referral requirements for the relevant product are satisfied
in accordance with this Agreement. Such referral requirements, along with the
payment amount applicable to the Referral Event, are located
at https://www.google.com/adsense/referrals, or such other URL as Google may
provide from time to time. You agree to comply with the specifications provided
by Google from time to time to enable proper tracking and reporting of Referral
Events in connection with Your Property. You shall not promote or facilitate a
Referral Event by any means other than displaying a Referral Button on the
Property, unless expressly authorized in writing by Google (including by
o AdSense for Video. If you have elected to use AdSense for Video, Your
participation is subject to your continued compliance with the AdSense for
Video Program policies located
at http://adsense.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=73987 or the URL
as Google may provide from time to time. All Ads (including Ads served in
response to end user clicks on and queries entered into Links, if any) shall be (1)
the Property(ies) as Ad Unit(s) or (2) pre-, post- or interstitial roll in connection
with third party video content, in each case in standard formats as offered
generally by Google from time to time, as may be further described in the
applicable policies. You acknowledge and agree that the Ads will be displayed
on the Property in a video format approved by Google, and that such Ads: (i)
shall only be displayed in connection with the Property(ies) and non-
advertisement video content (collectively “Video Media”), all of which is
subject to review and approval by Google in its discretion at any time; and (ii)
shall only be requested in connection with end user initiated Video Media. In
addition, You agree that You may only display one (1) Ad Unit within Your
media player at any single time, unless otherwise approved by Google in
o General; Serviced Pages; Filtering; Beta Features. You agree not to display
on the same Web page in connection with which any Ad Unit, Ad, Link, Search
Box, or Referral Button is displayed (a "Serviced Page") any advertisement(s)
or content that an end user of Your Property(ies) would reasonably confuse with
a Google advertisement or otherwise associate with Google. Certain Google
services available as part of the Program may contain filtering capability, such
as SafeSearch or AdSafe, that You may access through Your account. However,
if You elect to enable any such filters, You acknowledge and agree that: (i) it is
Your responsibility to enable such features in accordance with the specifications
provided by Google, and (ii) Google does not and cannot commit that all results
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1-2 Filed05/20/14 Page4 of 11
(including Ads, Links and Search Results) will be limited to results elected by
enabling such filter(s). Some Program features are identified as “Beta” or
otherwise unsupported (“Beta Features”). To the fullest extent permitted by
law, Beta Features are provided "as is" and at Your option and risk. You shall
not disclose to any third party any information from Beta Features, existence of
non-public Beta Features or access to Beta Features. .
3. Communications Solely With Google. You agree to direct to Google, and not to any
advertiser, any communication regarding any Ad(s) or Link(s) displayed in connection
with Your Property(ies).
4. Parties' Responsibilities. You are solely responsible for the Property(ies), including all
content and materials, maintenance and operation thereof, the proper implementation of
Google's specifications, and adherence to the terms of this Agreement, including
compliance with the Program Policies. Google reserves the right to investigate, at its
own discretion, any activity that may violate this Agreement, including but not limited
to any use of a software application to access Ads, Links, Search Results, or Referral
Buttons or to complete any Referral Event, or any engagement in any activity
prohibited by this Agreement. Google is not responsible for anything related to Your
Property(ies), including without limitation the receipt of queries from end users of Your
Property(ies) or the transmission of data between Your Property(ies) and Google. In
addition, Google shall not be obligated to provide notice to You in the event that any
Ad, Link, Search Result, or Referral Button is not being displayed properly to, or
(i) directly or indirectly generate queries, Referral Events, or impressions of or clicks on
any Ad, Link, Search Result, or Referral Button (including without limitation by
clicking on “play” for any video Ad) through any automated, deceptive, fraudulent or
other invalid means, including but not limited to through repeated manual clicks, the
use of robots or other automated query tools and/or computer generated search requests,
and/or the unauthorized use of other search engine optimization services and/or
software; (ii) edit, modify, filter, truncate or change the order of the information
contained in any Ad, Link, Ad Unit, Search Result, or Referral Button, or remove,
obscure or minimize any Ad, Link, Ad Unit, Search Result, or Referral Button in any
way without authorization from Google; (iii) frame, minimize, remove or otherwise
inhibit the full and complete display of any Web page accessed by an end user after
clicking on any part of an Ad ("Advertiser Page"), any Search Results Page, or any
Referral Page; (iv) redirect an end user away from any Advertiser Page, Search Results
Page, or Referral Page; provide a version of the Advertiser Page, Search Results Page,
or Referral Page that is different from the page an end user would access by going
directly to the Advertiser Page, Search Results Page, or Referral Page; intersperse any
content between the Ad and the Advertiser Page, between the page containing the
Search Box and the Search Results Page, or between the Referral Button and the
Referral Page; or otherwise provide anything other than a direct link from an Ad to an
Advertiser Page, from the page containing the Search Box to the Search Results Page,
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or from the Referral Button to the Referral Page; (v) display any Ad(s), Link(s), or
Referral Button(s) on any Web page or any Web site that contains any pornographic,
hate-related, violent, or illegal content; (vi) directly or indirectly access, launch, and/or
activate Ads, Links, Search Results, or Referral Buttons through or from, or otherwise
incorporate the Ads, Links, Search Results, or Referral Buttons in, any software
application, Web site, or other means other than Your Property(ies), and then only to
the extent expressly permitted by this Agreement; (vii) "crawl", "spider", index or in
any non-transitory manner store or cache information obtained from any Ads, Links,
Search Results, or Referral Events, or any part, copy, or derivative thereto; (viii) act in
any way that violates any Program Policies posted on the Google Web Site, as may be
revised from time to time, or any other agreement between You and Google (including
without limitation the Google AdWords program terms); (ix) disseminate malware; (x)
create a new account to use the Program after Google has terminated this Agreement
with You as a result of your breach of this Agreement; or (xi) engage in any action or
practice that reflects poorly on Google or otherwise disparages or devalues Google’s
reputation or goodwill. You acknowledge that any attempted participation or violation
of any of the foregoing is a material breach of this Agreement and that we may pursue
any and all applicable legal and equitable remedies against You, including an
immediate suspension of Your account or termination of this Agreement, and the
pursuit of all available civil or criminal remedies.
6. Termination; Cancellation. Subject to any third party agreements You may have with
other Google customers (e.g., Your Web hosting company), You may stop displaying
Ads, Links, Search Boxes, or Referral Buttons on any Property in the Program with or
without cause at any time by removing the Google JavaScript or similar programming
from Your Properties. You may terminate this Agreement with or without cause at any
time by sending written notice of your desire to cancel Your participation in the
Program to adsense-support@google.com. This Agreement will be deemed terminated
within ten (10) business days of Google's receipt of Your notice. Google may
investigate any activity that may violate this Agreement. Google may at any time, in its
sole discretion, terminate all or part of the Program, terminate this Agreement, or
suspend or terminate the participation of any Property in all or part of the Program for
any reason. In addition, Google reserves the right to terminate without notice any
account that has not generated a sufficient number of valid clicks on Ads or Referral
Buttons or valid impressions of Ads (in each case as measured by Google) for a period
of two (2) months or more. Upon termination of participation of any Property in the
Program or termination of this Agreement for any reason, Sections 3, 6 through 10, and
14 through 17 shall survive termination.
7. Confidentiality. You agree not to disclose Google Confidential Information without
Google's prior written consent. "Google Confidential I nformation" includes without
limitation: (a) all Google software, technology, programming, specifications, materials,
guidelines and documentation relating to the Program; (b) click-through rates or other
statistics relating to Property performance in the Program provided to You by Google;
and (c) any other information designated in writing by Google as "Confidential" or an
equivalent designation. However, You may accurately disclose the amount of Google’s
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1-2 Filed05/20/14 Page6 of 11
gross payments to You pursuant to the Program. Google Confidential Information does
not include information that has become publicly known through no breach by You or
Google, or information that has been (i) independently developed without access to
Google Confidential Information, as evidenced in writing; (ii) rightfully received by
You from a third party; or (iii) required to be disclosed by law or by a governmental
8. No Guarantee. Google makes no guarantee regarding the level of impressions of Ads
or clicks on any Ad or Referral Button, the timing of delivery of such impressions
and/or clicks, the completion of Referral Events, or the amount of any payment to be
made to You under this Agreement. In addition, for the avoidance of doubt, Google does
not guarantee the Program will be operable at all times or during any down time (i) caused by
outages to any public Internet backbones, networks or servers, (ii) caused by any failures of
Your equipment, systems or local access services, (iii) for previously scheduled maintenance or
(iv) relating to events beyond Google’s (or its wholly owned subsidiaries’) control such as
strikes, riots, insurrection, fires, floods, explosions, war, governmental action, labor conditions,
earthquakes, natural disasters, or interruptions in Internet services to an area where Google (or
its wholly owned subsidiaries) or Your servers are located or co-located.
9. No Warranty. GOOGLE MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WITH RESPECT TO ADVERTISING,
LINKS, SEARCH, REFERRALS, AND OTHER SERVICES, AND EXPRESSLY
DISCLAIMS THE WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF NONINFRINGEMENT,
MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. TO
THE EXTENT ADS, LINKS, AND SEARCH RESULTS ARE BASED ON OR
DISPLAYED IN CONNECTION WITH NON-GOOGLE CONTENT, GOOGLE
SHALL NOT HAVE ANY LIABILITY IN CONNECTION WITH THE DISPLAY OF
SUCH ADS, LINKS, AND SEARCH RESULTS.
10. Limitations of Liability; Force Majeure. EXCEPT FOR ANY INDEMNIFICATION
AND CONFIDENTIALITY OBLIGATIONS HEREUNDER OR YOUR BREACH OF
ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND/OR PROPRIETARY
INTERESTS RELATING TO THE PROGRAM, (i) IN NO EVENT SHALL EITHER
PARTY BE LIABLE UNDER THIS AGREEMENT FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL,
SPECIAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHETHER IN
CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF SUCH PARTY
HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND
NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY
LIMITED REMEDY AND (ii) GOOGLE'S AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO
PUBLISHER UNDER THIS AGREEMENT FOR ANY CLAIM IS LIMITED TO
THE NET AMOUNT PAID BY GOOGLE TO PUBLISHER DURING THE THREE
MONTH PERIOD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE CLAIM.
Each party acknowledges that the other party has entered into this Agreement relying on
the limitations of liability stated herein and that those limitations are an essential basis
of the bargain between the parties. Without limiting the foregoing and except for
payment obligations, neither party shall have any liability for any failure or delay
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1-2 Filed05/20/14 Page7 of 11
resulting from any condition beyond the reasonable control of such party, including but
not limited to governmental action or acts of terrorism, earthquake or other acts of God,
labor conditions, and power failures.
11. Payment. You shall receive a payment related to the number of valid clicks on Ads, the
number of valid impressions of Ads, the number of valid completions of Referral
Events initiated through Referral Buttons displayed in connection with Your
Property(ies), and/or other events performed in connection with the display of Ads on
Your Property(ies), in each case as determined by Google for its participants in the
Program. If You have elected to receive Search Results, this payment will be offset by
fees applicable to Search Results. Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties in writing
(including by electronic mail), payments to You shall be sent by Google within
approximately thirty (30) days after the end of each calendar month that Ads or Referral
Buttons are running on Your Property or that Ads are running on Search Results Pages
if Your earned balance is $100 or more. In the event the Agreement is terminated,
Google shall pay Your earned balance to You within approximately ninety (90) days
after the end of the calendar month in which the Agreement is terminated by You
(following Google's receipt of Your written request, including by email, to terminate the
Agreement) or by Google. In no event, however, shall Google make payments for any
earned balance less than $10. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Google shall not be liable
for any payment based on: (a) any amounts which result from invalid queries, invalid
Referral Events, or invalid clicks or impressions on Ads generated by any person, bot,
automated program or similar device, as reasonably determined by Google, including
without limitation through any clicks or impressions (i) originating from Your IP
addresses or computers under Your control, (ii) solicited by payment of money, false
representation, or request for end users to click on Ads, or (iii) solicited by payment of
money, false representation, or any illegal or otherwise invalid request for end users to
complete Referral Events; (b) Ads or Referral Buttons delivered to end users whose
browsers have JavaScript disabled; (c) Ads benefiting charitable organizations and
other placeholder or transparent Ads that Google may deliver; or (d) clicks co-mingled
with a significant number of invalid clicks described in (a) above, or as a result of any
breach of this Agreement by You for any applicable pay period. Google reserves the
right to withhold payment or charge back Your account due to any of the foregoing or
any breach of this Agreement by You, pending Google's reasonable investigation of any
of the foregoing or any breach of this Agreement by You, or in the event that an
advertiser whose Ads are displayed in connection with Your Property(ies) defaults on
payment for such Ads to Google. In addition, if You are past due on any payment to
Google in connection with any Google program (including without limitation the
Google AdWords program), Google reserves the right to withhold payment until all
outstanding payments have been made or to offset amounts owed to You in connection
with the Program by amounts owed by You to Google. To ensure proper payment, You
are solely responsible for providing and maintaining accurate address and other contact
information as well as payment information associated with Your account. For U.S.
taxpayers, this information includes without limitation a valid U.S. tax identification
number and a fully-completed Form W-9. For non-U.S. taxpayers, this information
includes without limitation either a signed certification that the taxpayer does not have
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U.S. Activities (as described on the Google AdSense: Tax Information Page located
at https://www.google.com/adsense/taxinfo, or such other URL as Google may provide
from time to time) or a fully-completed Form W-8 or other form, which may require a
valid U.S. tax identification number, as required by the U.S. tax authorities. Any bank
fees related to returned or cancelled checks due to a contact or payment information
error or omission may be deducted from the newly issued payment. You agree to pay all
applicable taxes or charges imposed by any government entity in connection with Your
participation in the Program. Google may change its pricing and/or payment structure at
any time. If You dispute any payment made under the Program, You must notify
Google in writing within thirty (30) days of any such payment; failure to so notify
Google shall result in the waiver by You of any claim relating to any such disputed
payment. Payment shall be calculated solely based on records maintained by Google.
No other measurements or statistics of any kind shall be accepted by Google or have
any effect under this Agreement. The payments made under this Agreement are for use
by You only and may not be transferred or in any manner passed on to any third party
(i.e., distributed to Properties managed by You that require separate payments) unless
expressly authorized in writing by Google (including by electronic mail). From time to
time Google may be holding funds, payments and other amounts due to You in
connection with the AdSense Program. You acknowledge and agree that Google may,
without further notice to You, contribute to a charitable organization selected by Google
all funds, payments and other amounts related to the AdSense Program that are held by
Google and that are due to you (if any), but which Google is unable to pay or deliver to
You because Your account is Inactive (as defined below). “Inactive” means that, based
on Google’s records: (a) for a period of two (2) years or more You have not logged into
your account or accepted funds, payments or other amounts that Google has attempted
to pay or deliver to You, and (b) Google has been unable to reach You, or has not
received adequate payment instructions from You, after contacting You at the address
shown in Google’s records.
12. Publicity. You agree that Google may use Your name and logo in presentations,
marketing materials, customer lists, financial reports, Web site listings of customers,
Search Results Pages, and Referral Pages. If You wish to use Google's trade names,
trademarks, service marks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features
("Brand Features"), You may do so, so long as such use is in compliance with this
Agreement and in compliance with Google's then current Brand Feature use guidelines,
and any content contained or referenced therein, which guidelines may be found at the
following URL: http://www.google.com/permissions/guidelines.html (or such other
URL Google may provide from time to time).
13. Representations and Warranties. You represent and warrant that (a) all of the
information provided by You to Google to enroll in the Program is correct and current;
(b) You are the owner of each Property or You are legally authorized to act on behalf of
the owner of such Property(ies) for the purposes of this Agreement and the Program; (c)
You have all necessary right, power, and authority to enter into this Agreement and to
perform the acts required of You hereunder; and (d) You have complied and will
continue to comply with all applicable laws, statutes, ordinances, and regulations
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(including without limitation the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and any relevant data
protection or privacy laws) in Your performance of any acts hereunder. In addition, to
the extent that Your Site is a media player (1) You represent and warrant that You have
a valid license to use and distribute such media player (including all content therein,
including without limitation any Ads or Ad Units) for the purposes of this Agreement
and the Program; and (2) You shall ensure that any media player(s) that constitute the
Site shall comply with the terms and conditions set forth herein. You further represent
and warrant that each Property and any material displayed therein: (i) comply with all
applicable laws, statutes, ordinances, and regulations; (ii) do not breach and have not
breached any duty toward or rights of any person or entity including, without limitation,
rights of intellectual property, publicity or privacy, or rights or duties under consumer
protection, product liability, tort, or contract theories; and (iii) are not pornographic,
hate-related or otherwise violent in content.
14. Your Obligation to Indemnify. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold Google, its
agents, affiliates, subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees, and applicable third
parties (e.g. relevant advertisers, syndication partners, licensors, licensees, consultants
and contractors) (collectively "I ndemnified Person(s)") harmless from and against any
and all third party claims, liability, loss, and expense (including damage awards,
settlement amounts, and reasonable legal fees), brought against any Indemnified
Person(s), arising out of, related to or which may arise from Your use of the Program,
the Property(ies), and/or Your breach of any term of this Agreement.
15. Google Rights. You acknowledge that Google owns all right, title and interest,
including without limitation all Intellectual Property Rights (as defined below), in and
to the Program (including Google's ad serving technology, search technology, referral
technology, and Brand Features, including implied licenses, and excluding items
licensed by Google from third parties and excluding any third party media player that
may comprise the Property), and that You will not acquire any right, title, or interest in
or to the Program except as expressly set forth in this Agreement. You will not modify,
adapt, translate, prepare derivative works from, decompile, reverse engineer,
disassemble or otherwise attempt to derive source code from any Google services,
software, or documentation, or create or attempt to create a substitute or similar service
or product through use of or access to the Program or proprietary information related
thereto. You will not remove, obscure, or alter Google's copyright notice, Brand
Features, or other proprietary rights notices affixed to or contained within any Google
services, software, or documentation (including without limitation the display of
Google’s Brand Features with Ads, Links, Search Boxes, Search Results, and/or
Referral Buttons, as applicable). "I ntellectual Property Rights" means any and all
rights existing from time to time under patent law, copyright law, semiconductor chip
protection law, moral rights law, trade secret law, trademark law, unfair competition
law, publicity rights law, privacy rights law, and any and all other proprietary rights, as
well as, any and all applications, renewals, extensions, restorations and re-instatements
thereof, now or hereafter in force and effect worldwide.
16. Information Rights. Google may retain and use, subject to the terms of the Google
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Privacy Policy (located at http://www.google.com/privacy.html, or such other URL as
Google may provide from time to time), all information You provide, including but not
limited to Property demographics and contact and billing information. You agree that
Google may transfer and disclose to third parties personally identifiable information
about You for the purpose of approving and enabling Your participation in the Program,
including to third parties that reside in jurisdictions with less restrictive data laws than
Your own. Google may also provide information in response to valid legal process,
such as subpoenas, search warrants and court orders, or to establish or exercise its legal
rights or defend against legal claims. Google disclaims all responsibility, and will not be
liable to You, however, for any disclosure of that information by any such third party.
Google may share non-personally-identifiable information about You, including
Property URLs, Property-specific statistics and similar information collected by
Google, with advertisers, business partners, sponsors, and other third parties. In
addition, You grant Google the right to access, index and cache the Property(ies), or any
portion thereof, including by automated means including Web spiders or crawlers.
17. Miscellaneous. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of California, except for
its conflicts of laws principles. Any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with
this Agreement shall be adjudicated in Santa Clara County, California. The parties
specifically exclude from application to the Agreement the United Nations Convention
on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and the Uniform Computer
Information Transactions Act. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between
the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. Any modifications to this
Agreement must be made in a writing executed by both parties, by Your online
acceptance of updated terms, or after Your continued participation in the Program after
such terms have been updated by Google. The failure to require performance of any
provision shall not affect a party's right to require performance at any time thereafter,
nor shall a waiver of any breach or default of this Agreement constitute a waiver of any
subsequent breach or default or a waiver of the provision itself. If any provision herein
is held unenforceable, then such provision will be modified to reflect the parties'
intention, and the remaining provisions of this Agreement will remain in full force and
effect. You may not resell, assign, or transfer any of Your rights hereunder. Any such
attempt may result in termination of this Agreement, without liability to Google.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Google may assign this Agreement to any affiliate at
any time without notice. The relationship between Google and You is not one of a legal
partnership relationship, but is one of independent contractors.
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By using our Services, you agree to these terms (the “AdSense Terms”), the AdSense Program
Policies and the Google Branding Guidelines (collectively, the “Agreement”). If ever in conflict, to
the extent of such conflict, the AdSense Terms will take precedence over any other terms of the
Agreement. Please read the Agreement carefully.
As used in the Agreement, “you” or “publisher” means the individual or entity using the Services
(and/or any individual, entity or successor entity, agency or network acting on your behalf), “we,”
“us” or “Google” means Google Inc., and the “parties” means you and Google.
Your use of the Services is subject to your creation and our approval of an AdSense account (an
“Account”). We have the right to refuse or limit your access to the Services. By submitting an
application to use the Services, if you are an individual, you represent that you are at least 18 years
of age. You may only have one Account.
By enrolling in AdSense, you permit Google to serve, as applicable, (i) advertisements and other
content (“Ads”), (ii) Google search boxes and search results, and (iii) related search queries and
other links to your websites, mobile applications, media players, mobile content, and/or other
properties approved by Google (each individually a “Property”). In addition, you grant Google the
right to access, index and cache the Properties, or any portion thereof, including by automated
means. Google may refuse to provide the Services to any Property.
Any Property that is a software application and accesses our Services (a) may require preapproval
by Google in writing, and (b) must comply with Google’s Software Principles.
You may use our Services only as permitted by this Agreement and any applicable laws. Don’t
misuse our Services. For example, don’t interfere with our Services or try to access them using a
method other than the interface and the instructions that we provide.
You may discontinue your use of any Service at any time by removing the relevant code from your
We are constantly changing and improving our Services. We may add or remove functionalities or
features of the Services at any time, and we may suspend or stop a Service altogether.
We may modify the Agreement at any time. We’ll post any modifications to the AdSense Terms on
this page and any modifications to the AdSense Program Policies or the Google Branding Guidelines
on their respective pages. Changes will not apply retroactively and generally will become effective
14 days after they are posted. However, changes addressing new functions for a Service or changes
made for legal reasons will be effective immediately. If you don’t agree to any modified terms in the
Agreement, you’ll have to stop using the affected Services.
Subject to this Section 5 and Section 10 of these AdSense Terms, you will receive a payment related
to the number of valid clicks on Ads displayed on your Properties, the number of valid impressions
of Ads displayed on your Properties, or other valid events performed in connection with the display
of Ads on your Properties, in each case as determined by Google.
Except in the event of termination, we will pay you by the end of the calendar month following any
calendar month in which the earned balance in your Account equals or exceeds the
applicable payment threshold. If you implement search Services, our payments may be offset by
any applicable fees for such Services.
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Unless expressly authorized in writing by Google, you may not enter into any type of arrangement
with a third party where that third party receives payments made to you under the Agreement or
other financial benefit in relation to the Services.
Payments will be calculated solely based on our accounting. Payments to you may be withheld to
reflect or adjusted to exclude any amounts refunded or credited to advertisers and any amounts
arising from invalid activity, as determined by Google in its sole discretion. Invalid activity is
determined by Google in all cases and includes, but is not limited to, (i) spam, invalid queries,
invalid impressions or invalid clicks on Ads generated by any person, bot, automated program or
similar device, including through any clicks or impressions originating from your IP addresses or
computers under your control; (ii) clicks solicited or impressions generated by payment of money,
false representation, or requests for end users to click on Ads or take other actions; (iii) Ads served
to end users whose browsers have JavaScript disabled; and (iv) clicks or impressions co-mingled
with a significant amount of the activity described in (i, ii, and iii) above.
In addition to our other rights and remedies, we may (a) withhold and offset any payments owed to
you under the Agreement against any fees you owe us under the Agreement or any other
agreement, or (b) require you to refund us within 30 days of any invoice, any amounts we may have
overpaid to you in prior periods. If you dispute any payment made or withheld relating to the
Services, you must notify Google in writing within 30 days of any such payment. If you do not, any
claim relating to the disputed payment is waived. If an advertiser whose Ads are displayed on any
Property defaults on payment to Google, we may withhold payment or charge back your account.
To ensure proper payment, you are responsible for providing and maintaining accurate contact and
payment information in your Account. You are responsible for any charges assessed by your bank
or payment provider.
As between you and Google, Google is responsible for all taxes (if any) associated with the
transactions between Google and advertisers in connection with Ads displayed on the
Properties. You are responsible for all taxes (if any) associated with the Services, other than taxes
based on Google’s net income. All payments to you from Google in relation to the Services will be
treated as inclusive of tax (if applicable) and will not be adjusted.
Other than as set out expressly in the Agreement, neither party will acquire any right, title or
interest in any intellectual property rights belonging to the other party or to the other party’s
If Google provides you with software in connection with the Services, we grant you a non-exclusive,
non-sublicensable license for use of such software. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling
you to use and enjoy the benefit of the Services as provided by Google, in the manner permitted by
the Agreement. Other than distributing content via the AdMob SDK, you may not copy, modify,
distribute, sell, or lease any part of our Services or included software, nor may you reverse engineer
or attempt to extract the source code of that software, unless laws prohibit those restrictions or you
have our written permission. You will not remove, obscure, or alter Google's copyright notice,
Brand Features, or other proprietary rights notices affixed to or contained within any Google
services, software, or documentation.
We grant you a non-exclusive, non-sublicensable license to use Google’s trade names, trademarks,
service marks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features (“Brand Features”)
solely in connection with your use of the Services and in accordance with the Agreement and the
Google Branding Guidelines. We may revoke this license at any time. Any goodwill arising from
your use of Google’s Brand Features will belong to Google.
We may include your name and Brand Features in our presentations, marketing materials,
customer lists and financial reports.
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1-3 Filed05/20/14 Page3 of 6
Our privacy policy explains how we treat your personal data and protect your privacy when you
use our Services. By using our Services, you agree that Google can use such data in accordance with
You will ensure that at all times you use the Services, the Properties have a clearly labeled and
easily accessible privacy policy that provides end users with clear and comprehensive information
about cookies, device-specific information, location information and other information stored on,
accessed on, or collected from end users’ devices in connection with the Services, including, as
applicable, information about end users’ options for cookie management. You will use
commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that an end user gives consent to the storing and
accessing of cookies, device-specific information, location information or other information on the
end user's device in connection with the Services where such consent is required by law.
You agree not to disclose Google Confidential Information without our prior written consent.
"Google Confidential Information" includes: (a) all Google software, technology and
documentation relating to the Services; (b) click-through rates or other statistics relating to
Property performance as pertaining to the Services; (c) the existence of, and information about,
beta features in a Service; and (d) any other information made available by Google that is marked
confidential or would normally be considered confidential under the circumstances in which it is
presented. Google Confidential Information does not include information that you already knew
prior to your use of the Services, that becomes public through no fault of yours, that was
independently developed by you, or that was lawfully given to you by a third
party. Notwithstanding this Section 9, you may accurately disclose the amount of Google’s gross
payments resulting from your use of the Services.
You may terminate the Agreement at any time by completing the account cancellation process. The
Agreement will be considered terminated within 10 business days of Google's receipt of your
notice. If you terminate the Agreement and your earned balance equals or exceeds the
applicable threshold, we will pay you your earned balance within approximately 90 days after the
end of the calendar month in which the Agreement is terminated. Any earned balance below the
applicable threshold will remain unpaid.
Google may at any time terminate the Agreement, or suspend or terminate the participation of any
Property in the Services for any reason. If we terminate the Agreement due to your breach or due
to invalid activity, we may withhold unpaid amounts or charge back your account. If you breach the
Agreement or Google suspends or terminates your Account, you (i) will not be allowed to create a
new Account, and (ii) may not be permitted to monetize content on other Google products.
You agree to indemnify and defend Google, its affiliates, agents, and advertisers from and against
any and all third-party claims and liabilities arising out of or related to the Properties, including any
content served on the Properties that is not provided by Google, your use of the Services, or your
breach of any term of the Agreement. Google’s advertisers are third-party beneficiaries of this
You represent and warrant that (i) you have full power and authority to enter into the Agreement;
(ii) you are the owner of, or are legally authorized to act on behalf of the owner of, each Property;
(iii) you are the technical and editorial decision maker in relation to each Property on which the
Services are implemented and that you have control over the way in which the Services are
implemented on each Property; (iv) Google has never previously terminated or otherwise disabled
an AdSense account created by you due to your breach of the Agreement or due to invalid activity;
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1-3 Filed05/20/14 Page4 of 6
(v) entering into or performing under the Agreement will not violate any agreement you have with
a third party or any third-party rights; and (vi) all of the information provided by you to Google is
OTHER THAN AS EXPRESSLY SET OUT IN THE AGREEMENT, WE DO NOT MAKE ANY PROMISES
ABOUT THE SERVICES. FOR EXAMPLE, WE DON’T MAKE ANY COMMITMENTS ABOUT THE
CONTENT WITHIN THE SERVICES, THE SPECIFIC FUNCTION OF THE SERVICES, OR THEIR
PROFITABILITY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, OR ABILITY TO MEET YOUR NEEDS. WE PROVIDE
EACH SERVICE “AS IS”.
TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE EXCLUDE ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, STATUTORY OR
IMPLIED. WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM THE WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF NONINFRINGEMENT,
TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, EXCEPT FOR ANY INDEMNIFICATION OBLIGATIONS
HEREUNDER OR YOUR BREACH OF ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, CONFIDENTIALITY
OBLIGATIONS AND/OR PROPRIETARY INTERESTS RELATING TO THE AGREEMENT, (i) IN NO
EVENT SHALL EITHER PARTY BE LIABLE UNDER THE AGREEMENT FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL,
SPECIAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT OR
ANY OTHER THEORY, EVEN IF SUCH PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED
REMEDY, AND (ii) EACH PARTY’S AGGREGATE LIABILITY UNDER THE AGREEMENT IS LIMITED
TO THE NET AMOUNT RECEIVED AND RETAINED BY THAT PARTICULAR PARTY IN CONNECTION
WITH THIS AGREEMENT DURING THE THREE MONTH PERIOD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE
DATE OF THE CLAIM. Each party acknowledges that the other party has entered into the
Agreement relying on the limitations of liability stated herein and that those limitations are an
essential basis of the bargain between the parties.
Entire Agreement; Amendments. The Agreement is our entire agreement relating to your use of
the Services and supersedes any prior or contemporaneous agreements on that subject. This
Agreement may be amended (i) in a writing signed by both parties that expressly states that it is
amending the Agreement, or (ii) as set forth in Section 4, if you keep using the Services after Google
modifies the Agreement.
Independent Contractors. The parties are independent contractors and the Agreement does not
create an agency, partnership, or joint venture.
No Third-Party Beneficiaries. Other than as set forth in Section 11, this Agreement does not create
any third-party beneficiary rights.
No Waiver. Other than as set forth in Section 5, the failure of either party to enforce any provision
of the Agreement will not constitute a waiver.
Severability. If it turns out that a particular term of the Agreement is not enforceable, the balance
of the Agreement will remain in full force and effect.
Governing Law; Venue. All claims arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the Services will
be governed by California law, excluding California’s conflict of laws rules, and will be litigated
exclusively in the federal or state courts of Santa Clara County, California, USA, and you and Google
consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.
Force Majeure. Neither party will be liable for inadequate performance to the extent caused by a
condition (for example, natural disaster, act of war or terrorism, riot, labor condition, governmental
action, and Internet disturbance) that was beyond the party’s reasonable control.
Communications. In connection with your use of the Services, we may contact you regarding
service announcements, administrative messages, and other information. You may opt out of some
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1-3 Filed05/20/14 Page5 of 6
of those communications in your Account settings. For information about how to contact Google,
If you choose to implement any of the following Services on a Property, you also agree to the
additional terms identified below:
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(Excludes Veterans) ’ 345 Marine Product Liability LABOR SOCIAL SECURITY ’ 490 Cable/Sat TV
’ 160 Stockholders’ Suits ’ 355 Motor Vehicle ’ 371 Truth in Lending ’ 720 Labor/Management ’ 863 DIWC/DIWW (405(g)) ’ 890 Other Statutory Actions
’ 190 Other Contract Product Liability ’ 380 Other Personal Relations ’ 864 SSID Title XVI ’ 891 Agricultural Acts
’ 195 Contract Product Liability ’ 360 Other Personal Property Damage ’ 740 Railway Labor Act ’ 865 RSI (405(g)) ’ 893 Environmental Matters
’ 196 Franchise Injury ’ 385 Property Damage ’ 751 Family and Medical ’ 895 Freedom of Information
’ 362 Personal Injury - Product Liability Leave Act Act
Medical Malpractice ’ 790 Other Labor Litigation ’ 896 Arbitration
REAL PROPERTY CIVIL RIGHTS PRISONER PETITIONS ’ 791 Employee Retirement FEDERAL TAX SUITS ’ 899 Administrative Procedure
’ 210 Land Condemnation ’ 440 Other Civil Rights Habeas Corpus: Income Security Act ’ 870 Taxes (U.S. Plaintiff Act/Review or Appeal of
’ 220 Foreclosure ’ 441 Voting ’ 463 Alien Detainee or Defendant) Agency Decision
’ 230 Rent Lease & Ejectment ’ 442 Employment ’ 510 Motions to Vacate ’ 871 IRS—Third Party ’ 950 Constitutionality of
’ 240 Torts to Land ’ 443 Housing/ Sentence 26 USC 7609 State Statutes
’ 245 Tort Product Liability Accommodations ’ 530 General
’ 290 All Other Real Property ’ 445 Amer. w/Disabilities - ’ 535 Death Penalty IMMIGRATION
IX. DIVISIONAL ASSIGNMENT (Civil L.R. 3-2)
(Place an “X” in One Box Only) ( ) SAN FRANCISCO/OAKLAND ( ) SAN JOSE ( ) EUREKA
Case5:14-cv-02329 Document1-6 Filed05/20/14 Page1 of 1
Free Range Content, Inc., a California corporation, on behalf of itself and
San Francisco, County
Jeff D. Friedman, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
715 Hearst Avenue, Suite 202, Berkeley, CA 94710
Breach of contract and other claims as set forth in the complaint.
05/20/2014 /s/Jeff D. Friedman
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