Social media influencers win lawsuit against Capital One, reaching a legal agreement
Capital One Settles Lawsuit Over Affiliate Marketing Practices
Capital One Financial Corp, the sixth-largest U.S. commercial bank based in McLean, Virginia, has settled a lawsuit involving its affiliate marketing system. The case, In re Capital One Financial Corp, Affiliate Marketing Litigation (No. 25-00023), is currently being heard in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.
The lawsuit, filed by social media content creators including bloggers, influencers, and YouTubers, alleged that Capital One's browser extension, Capital One Shopping, wrongly intercepted commissions that should have gone to them. The extension, acquired by Capital One in 2018 when it bought the online shopping startup Wikibuy, is at the center of the allegations.
According to the plaintiffs, Capital One's browser extension made it appear as though shoppers made purchases from merchants' sites after clicking referral links from the bank, even when they didn't. This practice, the creators claimed, resulted in Capital One collecting millions of dollars of commissions that rightfully belonged to them.
The case gained attention in June when U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga refused to dismiss it, finding it plausible that Capital One knowingly overrode tracking codes. However, Capital One did not admit wrongdoing in settling the claims.
The settlement was jointly filed by Capital One and the social media creators on Thursday in the Alexandria, Virginia, federal court. The expected settlement will be submitted for preliminary approval by November 17.
Similar litigation has been faced by other companies, such as Microsoft and PayPal, over their Microsoft Shopping and PayPal Honey extensions, respectively.
Lawyers for the creators did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Capital One Shopping recognizes and follows industry rules and is aligned with its advertising partners. According to Capital One, Capital One Shopping does not replace cookies or unlawfully take credit for commissions.
The settlement notice did not disclose the terms of the agreement. It is unclear how the settlement will affect Capital One's affiliate marketing practices moving forward. The preliminary approval hearing scheduled for November 17 will provide more details about the settlement and its implications.
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