CHICAGO, IL., August 21, 2023 – Today a federal court in Chicago has preliminarily approved a settlement of the putative Lanham Act and unfair competition class action lawsuit led by Pollock Cohen LLP on behalf of businesses nationwide against Groupon, Inc. Salon Phoenix Cosmetology LLC, et al., v. Groupon, Inc. (Case No. 1:22-cv-07162).
The lawsuit alleges that Groupon violated the federal Lanham Act and related state laws by: (1) creating pages on its website referring to businesses that had never had deals on Groupon, which allegedly contained “stock” descriptions of such businesses and certain inaccurate information about such businesses (such pages are referred to as “Business Landing Pages” in the settlement); and (2) maintaining Deal Pages on its website after the expiration of a business’s deal on Groupon. The complaint alleges that Groupon benefitted from this conduct by driving web search traffic to its website and that businesses in the putative class were harmed by such conduct through damage to their brands.
Groupon denies all of the allegations but entered into the class settlement agreement to resolve the litigation without further cost, risk, and distraction. The final approval hearing for the settlement will be held on November 16, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois.
Under the terms of the settlement, Groupon will make certain changes to the operation of certain pages on its website to address the concerns raised in the complaint. Specifically, Groupon will provide the option for settlement class members to claim, edit, or remove the Business Landing Pages, which are listed on the Groupon website with a url extension of .biz. All such pages will include information about how to contact Groupon to claim the page, request an edit, or request removal of the page. If Groupon requires time to consider a proposed claim to edit or remove a page, Groupon will temporarily de-index the page so it cannot appear on search engine results. Groupon will also ensure that each Business Landing Page disclaims any affiliation with all settlement members who do not have a current or prior deal with Groupon. In addition, class members who have had a Deal Page with Groupon that has been expired for three years or more may request that Groupon de-index and remove from internet search results any expired Deal Page.
For more information on the settlement, class members may refer to the Settlement
Website: https://www.groupon.com/landing/settlement-agreement
On the website, class members may find the full settlement agreement, the key filings in this case, and the procedures and deadlines for class members to object to the settlement. The court has appointed Pollock Cohen LLP as class counsel, who can be reached at (646) 201-5523 and groupon.settlement@pollockcohen.com.
