Forum Moderators: martinibuster
If not, take my word, that sooner or later there will be. Because sometimes Google sometimes thinks that G stands for God and they're free to make arbitrary decision and not pay when they're legally obliged to pay. And no, it won't be someone crazy woman who clicked on her own ads and who everyone laughed at; it will be a serious case. Perhaps there have been already but of course G settled and paid out and of the clauses of the settlement is keeping silent about it - so as not to hurt G's repuuuuuuuutation. A publicized case like this will certainly lead to G being more responsible and less arbitrary when freezing publishers' earnings. Such a case won by a publisher should benefit all publishers as a group.
P.S. I'm not asking about myself. I've always been paid.
The thing is that this is a contract issue. When the plain language of the contract lists reasons not to pay, you would have to show that those reasons are illegal to win the case. Just because the reasons are applied in an arbitrary manner isn't going to do it for you.
You might win if you could get it as far as a jury, but what you are suggesting is a matter of law, not a matter of fact. The judge will decide this issue, and it will almost certainly be in Google's favor.
But since you aren't going to believe any of us here, why don't you go ask a lawyer trained in California contract law. Then ask them what the odds of getting attorney's fees would be even if they won.
You can enjoy your fantasies of getting the big bad Google, but you agreed to a clearly written contract. Either live with it or walk away.
I try to get away from business relationships where I'm feeling tempted, rightly or wrongly, to start demonising the other party, because AT BEST it simply clouds your judgement. Believe me, I've been there, and I've gotten away, more than once. My wallet is a little lighter than it might have been, but so is my heart!
So, get out of the relationship, or behave rationally and stop imagining that G is some pit of evil toenail pullers. It's neither God nor the Devil: it's a company full of ordinary-to-smart, normal-to-nice people.
Rgds
Damon
You need to read the contract you agreed to agan.
That's a bit naive. Just because a contract says something doesn't mean it'll hold up in court.
I suspect Google settles most of these cases before they even get filed. They don't want any worm cans opened.
That's a bit naive. Just because a contract says something doesn't mean it'll hold up in court
A contract lists terms that 2 parties agree to,
Google is not saying, Google is dictating terms,
and you are not just listening, you are agreeing to those terms,
you entered a business relationship based on those terms, so unless you can prove that Google breached its own terms, you do not stand a chance.
Buy hey, don't accept any naive statements and go ahead sue Google and let us know how it goes.
I can't see anything in it that a court is likely to find unreasonable AT ALL.
Yes, if G could be proved to be in breach then you'd have a leg to stand on in court, but G *does not have to give reasons* to terminate the contract, no more than the AS publisher does for them to terminate.
This is not an empty point.
Rgds
Damon
Just because a contract says something doesn't mean it'll hold up in court.
That's true. But unless a clause is ruled to be illegal, then you have little chance of winning. Whether the clause is "fair" or not makes little difference.
For example, in right-to-work states, non-compete clauses are almost aways struck down in court because they are illegal, they are never struck down because they are not fair.
Google's contract with you is clear on the conditions of the contract. You agreed to the conditions. There is little chance of arguing that you had no choice to accept the contract, because there are lots of options.
What are you going to claim in the lawsuit that will get you past the summary judgment stage? What is illegal about the contract?
Seems to love the old, 'what if' game....:)
Ann
If I were that guy I would at least talk to a lawyer....
heyday
But I'd still have little expectation of winning.
Rgds
Damon
" When you go to court, you don't always get justice,
but you always get the law." KF
1) Like rightly noted above, just because something is in the contract doesn't mean that clause of the contract is legal. And if it's not legal, then it won't hold up in court, even if you signed the contract. Often times companies overstep the bounds of legality in trying to include clauses that are very favorable to them; they do it because.. there's no harm in doing it - until the court rules otherwise.
2) The Adsense contract says that it can be terminated by G for any reason. It does NOT say that G can refuse payment for any reason. And those two things are - different things. For example, G recently terminated some MFA publishers, yet they're still gonna get paid.
3) According to the contract, G has a right to refuse payment for a very finite number of reasons, such as, click fraud or other MATERIAL breaches of the TOS. In a situation, where G falsely claims that a breach has occured (for example, "Invalid Clicks") and uses that as a reason for non-payment but in reality no breach has occurred (there were no "Invalid Clicks") - in such a situation non-payment is definitely illegal. The supposed breach could be brought up in court and G would have to PROVE that the breach has occurred - and if it couldn't - then it would lose the case, and be forced to pay up and possible pay damages to the publisher.
4) So in situations such as #1 and #3, G could very well lose a case. If someone with a law degree actually commented on this thread - I believe then it would take the thread to the next level. So far we got a bunch of wanna-be lawyers commenting (myself included :)
In a situation, where G falsely claims that a breach has occured (for example, "Invalid Clicks") and uses that as a reason for non-payment but in reality no breach has occurred (there were no "Invalid Clicks") - in such a situation non-payment is definitely illegal. The supposed breach could be brought up in court and G would have to PROVE that the breach has occurred.
1) You're assuming that "invalid clicks" means "fraudulent clicks." Clicks can be deemed invalid for any number of reasons.
2) It's the plaintiff's task to prove that the defendant (in this case, Google) hasn't lived up to its side of the contract.
3) Talk is cheap until you've hired a lawyer to do the talking for you. :-)
Unless you believe you are going to be in this position - why on earth are you asking?
The OP is probably asking because of something that he (or she) told us in an earlier thread:
Well, I got da warning. Basically, it says"We dont dig this and that and you gotta fix it. Ads are no longer being served on your account. But your account is still active. Further violations will lead to a ban."
[webmasterworld.com...]
following tips can work for you:
1) Take Some break and go for outing
2) Stop checking your Adsense account "25" times in a day
3) Do "NOT" read horror threads like "I am banned" on webmasterworld
4) Try to eastablish some other business and dont depend too much on adsense
5) Donate some ammount (from adsense earning) per month to charity
If this is not enough.. Then I can come with some more tips..
Regards
I know contract law is not your area of expertise, but would still like to get
get your take on this thread! KF
there have already been opinions posted from lawyers in this thread
I think this thread has run it's course
