By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) – Capital One settled a lawsuit by social media creators who said a free browser extension used by millions of people to find discounts stole their sales commissions when shoppers bought their products and services. The sixth-largest U.S. commercial bank and the creators jointly filed a settlement notice on Thursday in […]
Science
Capital One settles social media creators’ lawsuit
Audio By Carbonatix
By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – Capital One settled a lawsuit by social media creators who said a free browser extension used by millions of people to find discounts stole their sales commissions when shoppers bought their products and services.
The sixth-largest U.S. commercial bank and the creators jointly filed a settlement notice on Thursday in the Alexandria, Virginia, federal court, and expect a settlement to be submitted for preliminary approval by November 17.
Capital One, based in McLean, Virginia, did not admit wrongdoing in settling claims over the browser extension, Capital One Shopping, and said consumers will not see changes.
In a statement, a spokesperson added that evidence in the case showed that Capital One Shopping “recognizes and follows industry rules and is aligned with its advertising partners.”
Lawyers for the creators did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The proposed class action involved affiliate marketing, where creators promote content through links that appear on their platforms and social media channels, and which are provided by online merchants and third-party marketers.
Creators said Capital One’s browser extension made it appear at checkout as though shoppers made purchases from merchants’ sites after clicking referral links from the bank.
They said this let Capital One collect millions of dollars of commissions that belonged to bloggers, influencers, YouTubers and other creators.
In June, U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga refused to dismiss the case, finding it plausible that Capital One knowingly overrode tracking codes, such as cookies, that showed shoppers had seen the creators’ content.
Capital One has said Capital One Shopping does not replace cookies or unlawfully take credit for commissions.
It acquired the browser extension when it bought the online shopping startup Wikibuy in 2018.
Microsoft and PayPal have faced similar litigation over their Microsoft Shopping and PayPal Honey extensions.
The case is In re Capital One Financial Corp, Affiliate Marketing Litigation, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, No. 25-00023.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)