SAN FRANCISCO ¨C Uber Technologies Inc. is accustomed to getting sued. Now it¡¯s doing the suing, and it¡¯s partly thanks to Breitbart News.
The global ride-hailing company is taking advertising agency Fetch Media Ltd. to court for click fraud, alleging that the firm improperly billed Uber for ¡°fake¡± online ads and took credit for app downloads it had nothing to do with. Fetch is owned by the world¡¯s fourth-largest advertising company, Japan¡¯s Dentsu Inc.
Uber filed the lawsuit Monday afternoon at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The company said it discovered something was amiss when it canceled a campaign on the conservative website Breitbart, where Fetch was placing Uber ads. As part of the lawsuit, Uber plans to seek at least $40 million in damages, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified disclosing legal plans. Fetch didn¡¯t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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