Fetch countersues Uber after being accused of click fraud in mobile ads

Dentsu Aegis-owned agency Fetch has issued a countersuit against Uber in an attempt to force it to pay up millions of dollars in unpaid bills the ride-hailing firm is withholding over claims of click fraud.

Fetch has filed the lawsuit in the same federal court in California where Uber previously lodged legal action against Fetch accusing the agency of breach of contract, fraud and negligence, claims the agency vigorously denied. (Uber has since withdrawn that case from the federal court and said it plans to take it to a state court.)

According to Uber's suit Uber asked Fetch in early 2017 to stop posting ads on all networks associated with Breitbart News, but the mobile ads continued appearing.

In its counter-suit Fetch claims the two companies were working well together for over two years until January 2017 when a "new team" at Uber became responsible for the relationship.

It claims that members of the team "began pointing fingers at Fetch" in a bid to "increase their stature within the company".

As a result, Uber allegedly stopped paying its bills for services that had been provided by dozens of suppliers that Fetch had arranged, many of which were small start-ups.

Fetch claims that to date Uber has not paid $19,736,925 of invoices issued by Fetch for services rendered in 2017.