Meta Seeks Do-Over In Battle With Advertisers Over Inflated Metrics

Meta Platforms is urging a federal appellate court to reconsider a recent 2-1 decision allowing Facebook and Instagram advertisers to proceed with a class-action fraud lawsuit over inflated metrics. In papers filed on May 3 with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Meta says the panel ruling doesn't “make any sense in a case like this,” given that the class of affected advertisers includes entities ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses to government agencies. Meta adds that the ruling will make it “virtually impossible” for defendants in other lawsuits to oppose class-action certification. Meta's latest papers come in a battle dating to 2018, when business owner Danielle Singer alleged in a class-action complaint that Facebook induced advertisers to purchase more ads, and pay more for them, by overstating the number of users who might see the ads. The initial complaint cited a report by the industry organization Video Advertising Bureau, which said in 2017 that Facebook's estimates of audience reach in every US state were higher than the states' populations. The advertisers added in an amended complaint filed in 2020 that Facebook employees were aware of complaints about the potential reach metric since September 2015.