AdTrader, Inc. v. Google LLC
- Beth Freeman
- 5:17-cv-07082
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In AdTrader v. Google, Judge Freeman approved a Rule 23(b)(3) class-notice plan, notice forms, administrator, and opt-out deadlines.
The AdWords Advertiser Class, its potential members, class counsel, Google LLC, and Angeion Group as the notice administrator.
What happened
In AdTrader, Inc. v. Google LLC, the court considered Specialized Collections Bureau, Inc.’s unopposed request to approve a notice plan for the AdWords Advertiser Class. The request included a declaration and proposed email, postcard, and long-form notices.
The court found that the plan provided reasonable notice and an opportunity for class members to exclude themselves from the case. It approved the notice forms and Angeion Group as the administrator, directed that email notices be sent within 30 days, set a 60-day opt-out deadline, and required a report to the court afterward.
Judge Beth L. Freeman ordered the parties and class counsel to proceed with the approved plan. The order also said the parties must meet and confer if the deadlines conflict with Google’s effort to compile contact information for potential class members.
The detailed version
- AdTrader, Inc. v. Google LLC · No. 5:17-cv-07082
- Beth Freeman
- Mar. 23, 2021
Background
Specialized Collections Bureau, Inc. (SCB) filed an unopposed motion seeking approval of a notice plan for the Rule 23(b)(3) AdWords Advertiser Class. The motion was supported by a declaration from Steven Weisbrot, identified as the president and chief innovation officer of the proposed class-notice administrator, Angeion Group. The proposed notices were attached as exhibits to that declaration.
The order explained that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(2)(B) requires the best practicable notice to members of a class certified under Rule 23(b)(3), including individual notice to members who can be identified through reasonable effort. Members must also have an opportunity to request exclusion, commonly called opting out. The order noted that notice may be sent by mail, electronic means, or another appropriate method, and that notice should not systematically leave any group without notice.
Ruling
The court found that the proposed notice plan satisfied these requirements and would provide reasonable notice and an opportunity for members of the AdWords Advertiser Class to exclude themselves from the proceedings. The class was defined in the court’s March 13, 2020 order granting in part and denying in part the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification.
The court approved:
- The email, postcard, and long-form notice forms attached to the Weisbrot declaration. - Angeion Group as the administrator responsible for sending notices, collecting opt-out requests, administering the case website, and tabulating information for reporting to the court through class counsel. - Sending the email notice to potential class members within 30 days after entry of the order. - A deadline for opt-out requests: the requests had to be postmarked no later than 60 days after the administrator sent the email notice. - Submission by class counsel of the administrator’s report on the notice plan and the tabulated opt-out information within 10 days after the opt-out deadline.
The order also recognized that Google was compiling contact information for potential class members. If the deadlines created a timing conflict with that effort, the parties were directed to meet and confer to resolve it. Judge Beth L. Freeman signed the order on March 23, 2021.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.