LinkedIn must face narrowed U.S. lawsuit claiming it overcharged advertisers

FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed logo of Microsoft is seen in front of a displayed LinkedIn logo in this illustration taken June 13, 2016. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

(Reuters) -A U.S. judge said Microsoft Corp's LinkedIn must face a lawsuit claiming it inflated the number of people who watched video ads on the networking platform, allowing it to overcharge hundreds of thousands of advertisers.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen, however, on Tuesday dismissed fraud-based claims and an unfair competition claim, saying the plaintiff advertisers did not show that LinkedIn made specific misrepresentations or that its conduct hurt the public at large.