Facebook being sued for click fraud

When you’re this big, you can’t stay out of trouble.

On Tuesday, sports site RootZooannounced legal proceedings to sue Facebook for alleged click fraud.

Rootzoo claims that on June 2 2008, by comparing their own analytics data with the number of clicks Facebook’s reported, clear discrepancies had been spotted.

Rootzoo says they had requested log files and a refund but Facebook had declined to provide either.

In a statement, Facebook said:

“We have developed a series of sophisticated systems to detect suspicious clicks and ensure advertisers are not charged for this activity. In addition, we analyze tremendous amounts of data to discern larger click patterns and, in rare cases where this research or other analysis reveals advertisers have been charged for invalid clicks, we have always, and will continue to, issue credits to impacted advertisers,”

Interestingly, the site’s law firm, Kabatek Brown Kellner, has previously sued Google, IAC and other companies for alleged click fraud.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has been the focus of click fraud allegations. TechCrunch just last month reported masses of complaints at WickedFire, an affiliate marketing forum. As Michael Arringon points out in the post, and similarly here, the notable difference between this and usual click fraud cases is that it isn’t a bot racking up ‘fake’ hits. Customers are complaining (and suing) because Facebook is charging for clicks just never seem to have taken place.

Details of the filing can be found here.

via MediaPost News