Meta Sheds Suit Alleging Advertiser Was Charged for False Clicks

Meta Platforms Inc., formerly Facebook Inc., is free of a suit alleging it falsely represented that it wouldn’t charge an advertiser when it determined that a fake account had clicked on the company’s ads, a California federal court order said.

DotStrategy Co. said Facebook billed it about $8,000 for ads that promoted its .buzz domain name registry business. The company sought to represent similarly aggrieved advertisers, alleging Facebook violated a California consumer protection law.

DotStrategy alleged Facebook misrepresented that advertisers “will not be charged for clicks that are determined to be invalid.”

The court declined to certify a class ...