Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

More Trims to Click-Fraud Lawsuit Against Facebook

(CN) - A federal judge in San Jose further pared a class action accusing Facebook of overcharging advertisers for fraudulent or bogus clicks.

In a ruling from Dec. 15, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel dismissed allegations brought by RootZoo, Steven Price and Fox Test Prep under a California unfair competition statute, claiming that Facebook uses an insufficient click-filtering system.

Fogel had dismissed other claims in August for breach of contract based on click fraud and for unfair competition under California law.

The class claimed Facebook misrepresented how it would charge for advertising and justified overcharges with blanket disclaimers.

RootZoo argued that it told Facebook in June 2008 that its records revealed "almost ... statistically impossible" number clicks from small towns, and that Facebook covered up serious flaws in its system, the ruling states.

Fogel did not take much stock in the claims, and agreed to trim some of the charges.

"Plaintiffs' current allegations, even viewed in the light most favorable to them, are insufficient to support a reasonable inference that Facebook knew of the problems at the time that it made its representations in the help center with respect to the filtering systems," the ruling states (emphasis in original). "RootZoo does not provide more than conclusory allegations with respect to the materiality of the discrepancy or the 'almost' impossibility of the number of clicks."

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...