Judge Dismisses YouTube ‘Adpocolypse’ Class Action Lawsuit

Earlier this week, a California federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit filed by the owners of the Zombiegoboom YouTube channel who claim Google LLC and/or YouTube LLC put restrictions on the placement of advertisements that did not meet YouTube’s guidelines, causing content providers to suffer significant monetary losses.

Plaintiffs James Sweet and Chuck Mere initially filed the YouTube class action lawsuit last summer on behalf of their production company Zombie Go Boom LLC, which produces video content for the Zombiegoboom YouTube channel.

They describe the channel’s content as “a cross between popular cable TV shows Mythbusters and The Walking Dead.”

According to the YouTube class action lawsuit, Google and YouTube breached their contract with content providers when it changed the algorithm used in its advertising program AdSense in March 2017. As a result, some content providers suffered a decline in revenues.

The YouTube algorithm change, dubbed “Adpocolypse” by some content providers, was implemented as an effort to filter out inappropriate content without human oversight. This adjustment was reportedly a response to advertisers who did not want their ads associated with objectionable content.

However, the Zombie Go Boom plaintiffs allege the algorithm didn’t work as intended because it allegedly allowed a significant amount of sexually explicit or racist monetized content. At the same time, the algorithm allegedly penalized content providers, who were allegedly not given time to adjust their content to fit within the new guidelines.

Zombie Go Boom says its advertising revenue dropped from hundreds of dollars per day to just $20 to $40 per day due to the Adpocolypse.

Google and YouTube sought to dismiss the Adpocolypse class action lawsuit, arguing that the plaintiffs’ had agreed to the site’s terms of service which stated in part: “YouTube is not obligated to display any advertisements alongside your videos and may determine the type and format of all ads available on the YouTube service.”

U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen found that this term was in the contract from the time the plaintiffs initially accepted the terms. In his order granting the motion to dismiss the YouTube class action lawsuit, the judge says Zombie Go Boom’s unconscionability argument lacks merit.

The judge also found that YouTube’s advertising decisions are not subject to good faith and fair dealing.

“In particular, YouTube allowed Zombie to post videos on its forum free of charge in exchange for getting a license to its content,” Judge Chen wrote in his order. “The ability to post videos, even without advertising revenues, can be valuable to content providers in reaching a wide audience.”

Judge Chen dismissed the YouTube class action lawsuit with prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs will not be given an opportunity to file an amended complaint.

The plaintiffs are represented by Todd M. Friedman of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman.

The YouTube Adpocolypse Breach of Contract Class Action Lawsuit is James Sweet, et al. v. Google Inc., et al., Case No. 3:17-cv-03953, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.