NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT
TO:
ALL PERSONS THAT PURCHASED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, YAHOO! PAY-PER-CLICK TEXT ADVERTISING IN THE U.S. MARKETPLACE
PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY AND IN ITS ENTIRETY. YOUR RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED BY PROCEEDINGS IN THIS LITIGATION. IF YOU ARE A CLASS MEMBER, YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO RECEIVE BENEFITS UNDER THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT DESCRIBED IN THIS NOTICE.
I. Why Did I Get This Notice?
You received this Notice to inform you of a proposed class action settlement (the “Settlement”) that may affect you. The Settlement was entered into by the parties in an action entitled In re Yahoo! Litigation, Case No. CV-06-2737 CAS (C.D. Cal.) (the “Action”). The purpose of this Notice is to inform you that a class has been certified in the Action and to inform you of the terms of the Settlement. You may have received this Notice because you were identified as a present or former pay-per-click advertising customer of Yahoo! Inc., Overture Services, Inc., or GoTo.com, Inc. (collectively “Yahoo!”). This Notice explains your legal rights, and how and by when you need to act.
II. What Is A Class Action Lawsuit?
In a class action, persons or business entities known as class representatives sue on behalf of persons or business entities with similar claims. All of these persons or business entities make up the class and are called class members. One court then resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the class. The Honorable Christina A. Snyder of the United States District Court for the Central District of California is presiding over this class action lawsuit.
III. What Is This Class Action About?
This class action was brought in 2006 by several Yahoo! pay-per-click search advertising customers. They allege that customers contracted for targeted ad placements through two products, “Sponsored Search” and “Content Match” (and predecessor products provided by Overture Services, Inc. and GoTo.com, Inc.) and that Yahoo! breached its contract with its customers by allowing Yahoo! ads to be displayed in spyware, domain name parking sites (also known as bulk registration sites), pop-ups, pop-unders, and typosquatting sites. Plaintiffs brought claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, misrepresentation, civil conspiracy, and unfair business practices.
IV. Why Is There A Settlement?
After several years of hard-fought litigation, counsel for the parties negotiated the Settlement described in this Notice. Those negotiations have included four mediations, the most recent of which was before the Honorable Gary L. Taylor, United States District Judge (Retired).
The Settlement was reached only after the parties conducted extensive pre-trial discovery. During the course of the Action, Yahoo! produced over 1.5 million pages of documents and hundreds of gigabytes of data. Yahoo! employees testified at deposition. In addition, the plaintiffs who brought the Action (referred to in this Notice as the “Class Representatives”) produced documents to Yahoo! and testified at deposition. In deciding to settle the Action, the Class Representatives and Class Counsel have taken into account the substantial expense and length of time necessary to prosecute the litigation through trial, post-trial motions and likely appeals, as well as the significant uncertainties in predicting the outcome of this complex litigation.
Class Counsel believe that the Settlement provides substantial benefits to the Class. Class Counsel believe that the Settlement is fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Class.
Yahoo! believes that it has valid defenses to the Class Representatives’ claims and denies any liability or wrongdoing. Yahoo! has nevertheless entered into the Settlement to avoid further expense, inconvenience and the burden of drawn-out litigation.
This Notice is not an expression of any opinion by the Court as to the merits of any claims or any defenses asserted by any party in the Action.
V. Who Is A Class Member?
The Class consists of all individuals or entities that purchased pay-per-click text advertising (referred to in this Notice as “Yahoo! Ads”) in the U.S. Marketplace, whether directly from Yahoo! or its predecessors Overture Services, Inc. or GoTo.com, Inc., or indirectly from an advertising agent, at any time from May 1, 2000 until September 22, 2009.
Pay-per-click text advertising includes the Yahoo! Search Marketing products currently known as “Sponsored Search” and “Content Match,” as well as predecessor products provided by Overture Services, Inc. and GoTo.com, Inc.
Excluded from the Class are Yahoo!, Overture Services, Inc. or GoTo.com, Inc. customers that did not purchase pay-per-click text advertising in the U.S. Marketplace. (For example, any Yahoo! customer that only purchase