The proposed settlement, filed in the San Jose, California
federal court, amounts to $6.625 million and is subject to approval by U.S.
Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen.
LinkedIn refuted any allegations of impropriety but
consented to undertake reasonable measures over the ensuing two years to engage
an external auditor to scrutinize its advertising metrics.
Advertisers, spearheaded by TopDevz of Sacramento,
California, and Noirefy of Chicago, asserted that LinkedIn inflated advertising
metrics by tallying video advertisement “views” from users’ LinkedIn
applications, even when the videos played off-screen as users scrolled past
them.
The legal action was initiated a fortnight following
LinkedIn's announcement in November 2020 that its engineers had rectified
software glitches on the platform which could have resulted in overbilling
impacting over 418,000 advertisers, with the majority being overcharged amounts
less than $25. LinkedIn issued credits to almost all impacted advertisers. The
agreement reached on Thursday pertains to American advertisers who bought
advertisements on LinkedIn from January 2015 to May 2023.
LinkedIn emphasized its dedication to the integrity of its
advertising products and ensuring a reliable platform for its users and clients
in a released statement. The lawsuit, initially dismissed by Judge van Keulen
in December 2021, prompted advertisers to appeal the decision. However, they
decided to pause the appeal process in order to engage in mediation to resolve
the dispute. The legal representatives of the advertisers are considering
pursuing legal fees of up to $1,656,250, which amounts to 25% of the settlement.
The case is titled "In re-LinkedIn Advertising Metrics
Litigation” and is being heard in the United States District Court for the
Northern District of California, under case number 20-08324.