AdTrader, Inc. v. Google LLC

Opinion

1 RANDOLPH GAW (S.B. #223718) rgaw@gawpoe.com 2 MARK POE (S.B. #223714) mpoe@gawpoe.com 3 SAMUEL SONG (S.B. #245007) ssong@gawpoe.com 4 VICTOR MENG (S.B. #254102) vmeng@gawpoe.com 5 FLORA VIGO fvigo@gawpoe.com 6 GAW | POE LLP 4 Embarcadero, Suite 1400 7 San Francisco, CA 94111 Telephone: (415) 766-7451 8 Facsimile: (415) 737-0642

9 Attorneys for Plaintiffs AdTrader, Inc., Classic and Food EOOD, LML CONSULT Ltd., Ad Crunch 10 Ltd., Fresh Break Ltd., and Specialized Collections Bureau, Inc. 11

12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

13 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

14 SAN JOSE DIVISION

16 ADTRADER, INC., Case No. 5:17-CV-07082-BLF

17 Plaintiff, [PROPOSED] ORDER GR ANTING PLAINTIFF SPECIALIZED 18 v. COLLECTIONS BUREAU’S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF CLASS 19 GOOGLE LLC. NOTICE PLAN FOR RULE 23(b)(3) ADWORDS ADVERTISER CLASS 20 Defendant. Judge: Hon. Beth L. Freeman 21 Courtroom: 3 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 [PROPOSED] ORDER

2 Having considered Plaintiff Specialized Collections Bureau, Inc.’s (“SCB”) Unopposed

3 Motion for Approval of Class Notice Plan for Rule 23(b)(3) Adwords Advertiser Class, the

4 supporting Declaration of Steven Weisbrot, and the proposed forms of class notice attached as

5 Exhibits B-D thereto, the Court hereby directs class counsel and Google to proceed with the plan

6 outlined therein.

7 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(2)( B) provides that “[f]or any class certified under

8 Rule 23(b)(3) . . . the court must direct to class members the best notice that is practicable under

9 the circumstances, including individual notice to all members who can be i dentified through

10 reasonable effort.” Id.; see also Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts, 472 U.S. 797, 812 (1985).

11 Rule 23 further requires that members of certified classes be given the opportunity to “request

12 exclusion” from having their claims tried as part of the class proceeding, otherwise known as the

13 right to “opt out” of the case. Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 23(c)(2)(B)(v).

14 Notice of the pendency of a Rule 23(b)(3) class action is to be made by “United States

15 mail, electronic means, or other appropriate means.” Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 23(c)(2)(B). The Federal

16 Judicial Center has concluded that a notice plan that reaches at least 70% of the class is

17 reasonable. Federal Judicial Center, Judges’ Class Action Notice and Claims P rocess Checklist 18 and Plain Language Guide at 3 (2010). The class must be notified in a manner that “does not 19 systematically leave any group without notice.” Officers for Justice v. Civil Serv. Comm’n, 688 20 F.2d 615, 624 (9th Cir. 1982). 21 The Court finds that the proposed notice plan set forth in SCB’s unopposed motion and as 22 further described in the declaration of Steven Weisbrot, the President and Chief Innovation 23 Officer of the proposed class notice administrator Angeion Group, satisfies the foregoing 24 requirements and will provide reasonable notice and an opportunity for members of the AdWords 25 Advertiser Class1 to exclude themselves from these class proceedings. 26 Specifically, the Court orders as follows: 27 1 The AdWords Advertiser Class is defined in the Court’s March 13, 2020 Order Granting in Part 28 and Denying in Part Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification. ECF No. 278. 1 e The Court approves the form of the Email, Postcard, and Long-Form notices as 2 attached as Exhibits B-D of the Weisbrot Declaration; 3 e The Court approves Angeion Group as the Administrator for purposes of sending the 4 Notices, collecting opt outs, administering the case website, and tabulating the 5 associated information for reporting to the Court through Class Counsel; 6 e Within 30 days of entry of this order, the Administrator shall send the Email Notice to 7 the potential members of the class; 8 e Any requests by potential members of the class to opt out of this adjudication must be 9 postmarked by no later than 60 days after the date that the Administrator has send the 10 Email Notice; and 11 e Within 10 days of the date by when any opt-out requests must be post-marked, Class 12 Counsel shall submit to the Court the Administrator’s report of its execution of the 13 notice plan and tabulation of opt outs. 14 15 IT IS SO ORDERED. 16 17 | Dated: _March 23 2021 é han nit 18 HON. BETH LABSON FREEMAN 19 United States District Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 || ? The Court recognizes that Google is currently in the process of compiling contact information for potential members of the class. Mot. at 3 n.1. Should the dates set forth in this order present 28 any timeliness conflict with respect to that effort, the parties shall meet and confer to resolve it. -2- monet EE OE □□ □□□□□