BRD Media Dental Marketing Review: $5.75 Million LocalMed Settlement Class Totals 1,079,483 People

Dental marketing review by BRD Media of the federal settlement over LocalMed, a scheduler dental offices installed on their own websites

VILLA PARK, IL, UNITED STATES, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- BRD Media's dental marketing review of a federal settlement shows a court preliminarily approved a $5,750,000 settlement on September 24, 2026 over LocalMed, a scheduler dental offices installed on their own websites, with notice to the settlement class, which Dental Intelligence documented at 1,079,483 members, set to begin October 27. Dental Intelligence, the software company behind the portal, agreed to the settlement to resolve claims that Google tracking tools on the portal received information patients typed while booking. The company denies any wrongdoing.

The review reads two filings in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Case No. 1:25-cv-02464: the settlement agreement filed September 23, 2026, and the preliminary approval order Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins signed on September 24, 2026.

What the Court Filings Say

The agreement describes LocalMed as scheduling software that Dental Intelligence's clients installed directly onto their practice websites so patients could schedule, modify and cancel appointments online. Plaintiffs allege that Google tracking and analytics software on the portal collected what patients entered while scheduling and sent it to Google without their consent.

The settlement class covers people who used the portal to schedule or modify an appointment between March 2022 and June 2025 and whose private dental information was allegedly disclosed or transmitted to a third party, as the complaint describes. The agreement states that the class includes only people who may have used specific configurations of the portal, and that Dental Intelligence documented 1,079,483 class members.

The March 7, 2025 complaint named Dental Intelligence and two of its client dental offices, according to the agreement. If the court grants final approval, the agreement would release every entity that contracted with Dental Intelligence to deploy the portal, a group that includes the offices that installed it, from the settled claims of class members who do not opt out.

Dental Intelligence states in the agreement that it removed the Google tracking technology from the portal and then decommissioned the portal. Class counsel is to verify that with documentation before asking for final approval.

The $5,750,000 fund is non-reversionary. Class members who file valid claims receive a pro rata payment after notice costs, service awards and attorneys' fees come out. Under the order, notice begins October 27, 2026, opt-outs and objections are due December 28, claims are due January 25, 2027, and the final approval hearing is March 25, 2027. The settlement is not final until the court approves it after that hearing.

Where a Booking Tool Sits on a Dental Website

A scheduling button looks like part of a practice's own website, but the filings describe it as software from a second company that runs on the practice's page. The filings do not say anything about other scheduling vendors, and no court has found that any practice or vendor broke the law. The complaint named two client dental offices alongside the software company, and the agreement would extend its release to the offices that deployed the portal.

"A booking button looks like the practice's own page, but it is code from a third company running there," said Christopher DeWilde, founder of BRD Media. "The useful question is what the scheduler sends to anyone outside the vendor, and whether that is in writing. The same question applies to HIPAA compliant marketing choices about pixels, chat widgets and call tracking, and to dental SEO tools that add scripts to a page."

Methodology and Limits

Both documents were pulled from the CourtListener archive of the Northern District of Illinois docket and read in full. All statements about tracking are allegations; Dental Intelligence denies liability, the court has made no finding of wrongdoing, and the preliminary approval does not decide the merits. BRD Media is a marketing agency, not a law firm, and this release is not legal advice.

About BRD Media LLC

BRD Media LLC is a search engine optimization, web design and paid advertising agency in Villa Park, Illinois. The agency works with dental practices, medical clinics, med spas and law firms.

Christopher DeWilde
BRD Media LLC
708-514-8561
cdewilde@brdmediallc.org
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