Yahoo Inc. will consider refunding money to thousands of advertisers dating back to January 2004 and pay $4.95 million in attorney fees to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the Internet powerhouse has been profiting from bogus sales referrals generated through a sham known as click fraud.

The agreement, given preliminary approval Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder in Los Angeles, doesnt limit Yahoos liability - one of several contrasts to a settlement reached in March by online search engine leader Google Inc. to resolve a class-action lawsuit over the same issue.

Googles financial commitment in its case, overseen by an Arkansas state court, is capped at $90 million. Thats a sliver of the $13.3 billion in ad revenue that the Mountain View, Calif.-based company has collected since 2001.

As much as $30 million of the Google settlement could be paid to the attorneys who filed the case.