While much has been written about the $90 million settlement reached by Google in the recent class-action suit, most advertisers that I've spoken with have made it pretty clear that they have no interest in settling for the current pay out. The problem here is that few advertisers realize that unless they actively opt-out of this settlement, they run the risk of being excluded from any future settlement. In other words, it won't be enough to just ignore this issue. You need to take action to protect your future options.

The absolute most important thing to take away from this blog post? You have until August 4th, 2006 to act.

I first spotted this new in Kevin Ryan's excellent article of opting in or out of the settlement over at ClickZ. Ryan notes:

For those not familiar with how class action lawsuits work, it's essential to note Ryan's first and second points. It's not enough to simply decide not to file a claim through this settlement. Class action settlements require that anyone that fits the class definition and that has been notified of the potential settlement must ACTIVELY opt-out in order to qualify for future suits. I'd never heard of that myself and double checked with a friend that is a corporate lawyer. She said that Kevin's post is spot on and that it was important to carefully read the terms of the settlement and to file the appropriate paperwork whether you wanted in on the settlement or not.