[JURIST] A judge in Arkansas Thursday approved a $90 million settlement [JURIST report] by Google [corporate website] to resolve a class action lawsuit [PDF complaint] filed by advertisers alleging that Google and other online search engine companies overcharged for pay-per-click advertising, in which advertisers pay a fee every time an internet user clicks on their ads. Google agreed [press release] to give advertising credits that equal $4.50 for every $1,000 that was spent in advertising over the past 4.5 years. Only the lawyers who handled the case will actually receive any cash – $30 million of the settlement will be split among them.

There were over 70 objections in the case with several smaller companies arguing that they did not have the means to investigate how much they lost through "click fraud." Last month, a federal judge in Los Angeles gave preliminary approval [JURIST report] to a settlement in a similar lawsuit brought against Yahoo! Inc. [corporate website] for overcharging in pay-per-click advertising. AP has more.