Linkedin settles over advertising premiums

Linkedin has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit accusing Microsoft of charging advertisers excessive fees by inflating the number of views on video ads. Linkedin will pay $6.625 million, despite continuing to deny the allegations. The agreement was reached on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in federal court in San Jose, California, and is subject only to the approval of a trial judge.

Linkedin to Pay AdvertisersHistory of the LinkedIn Advertiser Lawsuit

Linkedin to start paying advertisers

Linkedin denies the allegations, but has agreed to settle and pay $6,625 to advertisers who accuse it of overcharging and unfair practices, such as inflating the number of viewers of the platform’s video ads. The company therefore rejects the allegations and has also committed to hiring a third-party auditor within two years to verify its advertising metrics.

The alleged abuses on Linkedin come from advertisers TopDevz of Sacramento, California, and Noirefy of Chicago, and date back to November 2020, when the site announced it had fixed a bug that led to 418,000 excessive charges, most of them under $25.

Linkedin Advertisers Case History

The lawsuit between the company, which was bought by Microsoft in 2016, and investors took place in late 2020, shortly after the Californian company announced a bug fix. TopDevz and Noirefy accused the company of charging high fees and inflating the number of video ads. The lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Van Keulen in 2021, after which the advertisers appealed and suspended the appeal to give both parties the opportunity to mediate the dispute.

A preliminary settlement was filed Thursday night in federal court in San Jose, California, requiring approval from investigating judge Susan Van Keulen. Linkedin must pay $6.625 million in settlement with advertisers.