Facebook is facing accusations from advertisers that the social network has charged them for clicks that never occurred because the company multiplies the estimated number of hits.
American brand owners who use the web as an advertising platform say their clicks are 20% to 100% lower than what Facebook charges them.
"Facebook is simply stealing 20% of our gambling data turkey clicks, which we pay for, which is thousands of dollars," said one of the advertisers allegedly affected.
The social network has responded to the allegations with a statement from a spokesperson who said the company is studying the case in depth and that the matter will be treated "very seriously."
“We have seen a suspicious increase in clicks over the past few days,” he said. “We have identified a solution which we have already started to implement, and we are identifying the affected accounts to ensure advertisers are treated appropriately.”