1-800 Contacts to Pay $15M to Settle Search Advertising Lawsuit

1-800 Contacts has agreed to pay $15.1 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit that claimed it unlawfully restricted search advertising.

MediaPost reports that consumers filed the suit in 2016 after the Federal Trade Commission accused 1-800 Contacts of antitrust violations. The lawsuit and FTC complaint alleged that 1-800 Contacts made agreements with competitors such as Luxxotica, Walgreens and National Vision.

The alleged agreements were intended to ensure that ads for those companies did not appear in the results when consumers searched for “1-800 Contacts” online.

The agreements were reached after 1-800 Contacts filed or threatened legal action against the competitors, MediaPost reports.

The settlement awaits final court approval.

The other defendants in the lawsuit, including Luxxotica, Walgreens and National Vision, have agreed to pay a total of $24.9 million.