DoubleClick hit by fraud complaint

DoubleClick, an online marketing services company, is facing a class-action lawsuit alleging it helped deliver millions of fraudulent online advertisements meant to dupe Web surfers into clicking on them. The suit, filed July 11 in Allegheny County, Penn., civil court, is similar to a case against Bonzi Software, which was charged with deceiving Web surfers into clicking on banner ads by presenting them as computer security warnings. In May, the company settled the case, agreeing to clearly label the ads; but this suit, with new plaintiffs, carries the charges to New York-based DoubleClick.

Plaintiff attorneys Ference & Associates said that DoubleClick is liable for the delivery of Bonzi's security warning ads--which do not allow people to close them without clicking through to a Web site--because it sells that capability to customers. DoubleClick could not immediately be reached for comment.