A group of Web publishers has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, VA this week against Internet ad network Gator Corp., charging that Gator sells ads on their Web sites without authorization and pockets the proceeds.
The plaintiffs include The Washington Post Co., the New York Times Co., Dow Jones & Co., Tribune Interactive, Gannett Co., Knight Ridder Digital, Condenet and American City Business Journals Inc, according to the Washington Post.
The publishers charge the Redwood City, CA-based Gator with falsely charging them fees for running pop-up ads on their Web browsers without their consent. Gator software allegedly enables this practice.
“These plaintiffs either haven’t done their homework, or more likely are just trying to create a bump in the road for Gator as a competitor for online advertising dollars,” said Gator CEO Jeff McFadden, in a statement. “We believe the allegations made by the plaintiffs are utterly baseless, and we are highly confident that the business practices we’ve employed for years with over 400 customers (including over 60 Fortune 500 companies) and 22 million active users are legal.”
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