Comments on: Search engine index

By: PointOfLaw Featured Discussion

PointOfLaw Featured Discussion — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 21:41:53 +0000

Superstars, Lawsuits, and the Public Interest

Alex, My intention today was to get fully into my critique of your article with Eric Helland, but after your most recent post, I again wanted to clarify some theoretical issues. To keep this entry at a readable length, I’m…

By: david giacalone

david giacalone — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 10:18:58 +0000

Ted, There is at least one consumer advocate who puts consumer interests first over lawyer's financial interests. See ethicalEsq's Challenge to Public Citizen: Help Fix the Contingency Fee System (get the current rules enforced and clients informed). Of course, this position gets me hate mail from p/i lawyers [from the first week as a weblogger three years ago to just last week] And, as I've often stated, I'm not even a tort reformer. I agree with you that punitive-prank click-throughs on AdWords are unethical and not

By: Ted

Ted — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:28:43 +0000

Again, let’s be clear: my recalcitrance is based on my belief that it’s unethical and shouldn’t be done, and that my readers shouldn’t do it either.

Kingmanor makes a very good argument for non-liability. Unfortunately, it would cost me tens of thousands of unrecoverable dollars to make the same argument were I to be sued (we see how responsive Google is to subpoenas), and I could think of too-clever-by-half counterarguments that would keep a suit alive needlessly. And vindicating this right, compared to other rights the plaintiffs’ bar is threatening to take away, is not an effective use of my time.

By: kingmanor

kingmanor — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:16:19 +0000

The recalcitrance to entice users to click on google ads for “mesothelioma” is unfounded. Every so often, any given site lists the most popular Google AdWords, and every time that happens, users go nuts and click on the Ads, charging lawyers money. There is nothing wrong with this. The price they bid on takes into account that most clickthrus will not end up with a case. Hundreds of clicks from one IP address is click fraud. One click from hundreds of IP addresses is not.

By: TortsProf Blog

TortsProf Blog — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:00:40 +0000

Google AdWords

Lawyers dominate the Google AdSense keywords, with mesothelioma lawyers commanding over $54. (Via Consumerist; I see Overlawyered picked up on it too.) One project I’ve thought about but never quite gotten around to is to test the predictive value of