In a story you’d expect to hear about on The Onion, Yahoo settled a class action lawsuit recently over them selling advertising pay per clicks from domains that were parked using typos for the spelling, spyware (like those malware browser bars that hijack your searches), popups, and other very low quality sources like pages with no content or blind links. Two of the spyware vendors were Intermix and Direct Revenue, who were sued by Elliot Spitzer when he was Attorney General for consumer protection violations.  It’s alleged they did this before earnings reports to boost income to meet Wall Street expectations.

The suit, originally brought back in 2006 was finally settled by Yahoo. They are paying the legal fees of about 4.2 million dollars to attorneys. The plaintiffs get a $20 coupon each, but only if you’re no longer in business (and you have to certify that). For the coupon, the person has to relinquish all rights to sue over this matter. Yahoo admits no wrongdoing.

I just can’t help wondering if the plaintiffs decided to settle by a vote or if thier lawyers made the decision. Yahoo said they were settling to limit their legal costs in a prolonged litigation but if their hands were clean and they could prove it (they submitted over 1.5 million pages of documents) why would they settle at all? A $20 coupon, and only if you went out of business… Outstanding! If you ever get arrested and get one phone call, call Yahoo and ask if one of the lawyers from that case is available.

If you’ve heard news on this or got a coupon please drop your comments or opinion.

Nick