Supreme Court rejects Google's appeal in AdWords case

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Google to stop a class action lawsuit filed by advertisers.

The group of advertisers, who used Google AdWords from 2004 through 2008, allege that Google misled them about where their ads would be place, violating California's fair advertising laws. Specifically, they claim they were never told their ads would seen on error pages and other undesirable spots.

In 2012, a federal judge ruled that the advertisers couldn't file a class action suit in part because they would each qualify for different damages from Google. However, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision. Google appealed the ruling, but the Supreme Court's decision Monday lets that ruling stand.

In 2015, the overwhelming majority of Google's revenue (89.9 percent) came from advertising.

Google has run into legal and ethical controversies surrounding its search and advertising practices in multiple other cases. For instance, European regulators announced they would press charges over claims that Google unfairly promotes its own products and services to consumers in search results. Google has since started working with European governments to encourage businesses there to more effectively use AdWords and other tools.

Back in 2014 after facing criticism, Google put an end to its practice of scanning student data from its Apps for Education users, whichit used to serve up targeted ads.