Lawsuit: Google bids to take more of your ad budget

Yikes. A new lawsuit claims that Google is misleading advertisers by making its second-tier ad program, the content network, an "opt out." The suit suggests this allows Google to suck up your remaining ad budget, if not enough web searchers click on your ads.

The tricky part, according to the suit, is some advertisers don't realize Google runs two types of ad programs. The one most people recognize, Google AdWords, has paid text ads, or "sponsored links," that appear after a computer user searches for a phrase at www.google.com. But Google also runs these same text ads on a vast AdSense "content network" of web sites if they have articles with vaguely related content.

So if you sell shoes, your ad for shoes might
1. appear in front of consumers actively searching and shopping for shoes at www.google.com, or
2. appear next to a fashion article and draw a few errant clicks.

How do you now opt out of this second "content network" program? The lawsuit contends Google requires advertisers to type a zero into a certain field, rather than just leaving it blank, and if the advertiser is not hip to this requirement they're automatically enrolled in the second-tier content network program.

Look, we're sure we have this wrong. Google wouldn't obscure its advertising registration process to try to lure advertisers into a lackluster ad program just to boost revenues.

Right, Google?