The lawsuit accuses LinkedIn of counting as "views" of video ads those that occurred off-screen when users were scrolling.
mobile phone with the linkedin app next to a cup of coffee
July 29, 2024
By Rafael Sotelo
Content manager at Marketing4eCommerce
LinkedIn has agreed to pay $6.6 million (6.1 million euros) to settle a proposed class action lawsuit accusing it of overcharging advertisers by inflating the number of people who viewed video ads on its platform.
Origin of the demand
The lawsuit stems from claims by advertising groups in Sacramento, California, and Chicago that LinkedIn inflated advertising metrics by counting video ad “views” from LinkedIn apps even when the videos played off-screen because users scrolled past them. The suit began two weeks after LinkedIn disclosed in November 2020 that its engineers uae number data had fixed software bugs on the platform that may have led to more than 418,000 improper charges, most of them worth less than $25. LinkedIn provided credits to nearly all of the affected advertisers.
Thursday’s settlement covers U.S. advertisers who purchased ads on LinkedIn between January 2015 and May 2023. In a statement, LinkedIn said the settlement “underscores our commitment to the integrity of our advertising products and to providing a trusted platform for our members and customers.”
Although LinkedIn denies any wrongdoing, it has announced that it will conduct an external audit to review its advertising metrics.
It is not the only case on social networks
In fact, this is not the only lawsuit that the big social networks have had to face for similar behavior. Earlier this year, Meta was hit with a $7 billion lawsuit for inflating advertising metrics, where they are accused of exaggerating the viewing time metrics of video ads, a case that has led to a serious discussion about trust in the metrics provided by social media platforms.
In that case, Meta strongly denied the allegations and said the charges were unfounded . In fact, a spokesperson for the technology company has stated that the cost structure for advertisers is based on performance metrics and not on the “potential reach” cited in the lawsuit.