Google is the target of a federal class-action lawsuit alleging deceptive practices in how the search giant manages its AdWords program.

The case, filed yesterday by the firm Kabateck Brown Kellner in U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, alleges that marketers using AdWords who stipulate that they do not wish for their ads to appear on third-party sites nonetheless finds their placements on Web properties outside the Google.com domain. Marketers still pay for clicks on those ads which they did not intend to place, the suit charges.

"This debunks Google's carefully cultivated image," said Brian Kabateck, lead counsel on the case and managing partner of the firm. "Google is hurting its customers on two fronts. Google is not only taking money out of customers' pockets, it's derailing their advertising strategies as well."

Kabateck is national consumer law firm that works on a plaintiffs-only basis.

The firm previously has won large settlements from Coca Cola and Yahoo, and took part in a settlement won from Google for a suit concerning click fraud.