• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, April 9, 2024

LinkedIn and two advertisers have agreed to settle a long-running battle over the social media platform's allegedly inflated ad metrics, according to papers filed Monday with  a federal appellate court.

Settlement terms have not been disclosed.

The move likely brings an end to a dispute dating to 2020, when the tech company TopDevz and recruiting platform Noirefy alleged in a class-action complaint that LinkedIn's erroneous metrics allowed it to charge inflated prices for ads.

TopDevz and Noirefy sued soon after LinkedIn said it “may have overreported” ad impressions and video views on some campaigns.

LinkedIn disclosed the measurement issue in November 2020, by which time the glitch had been fixed. The company also said the erroneous metrics potentially affected more than 418,000 customers, and that it would credit the accounts of affected advertisers.

But the advertisers suing LinkedIn alleged that the inflated ad metrics led them to purchase more ads, and pay higher prices for them.

TopDevz and Noirfy raised several claims, including that LinkedIn violated California's false advertising law as well as a law that prohibits unfair business practices.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen in the Northern District of California threw out the lawsuit in December 2021, ruling that companies can only sue for unfair business practices or false advertising when monetary damages won't remedy the alleged violation.

TopDevz and Noirefy then asked the 9th Circuit to reverse that ruling and reinstate the claims.

LinkedIn opposed that request, arguing that it “immediately took steps to correct the errors,” and issued “makegoods to all potentially affected advertisers that in most instances exceeded the amount of any possible overcharge.”

Last year, after LinkedIn and the advertisers filed their appellate arguments with the 9th Circuit, they agreed to attempt to settle the matter through mediation.