Toyota Agency to Refund Overcharges for Online Ads

Dentsu Inc., Japan’s largest ad agency, says it will return 230 million yen ($2.3 million) in bogus charges to Toyota Motor Corp. and several other clients for online ads that never ran or whose impact were overstated.

Toyota first flagged the discrepancies, which prompted an internal investigation by Dentsu, Bloomberg News reports. The probe turned up more than 600 suspicious cases affecting 111 clients over the past four years, according to the agency.

Dentsu says it found discrepancies in reported online ad placement schedules, failure to place purchased ads and excessive charges stemming from falsified reports about the effectiveness of the advertising. The company tells reporters it will report by year-end on its efforts to correct the mistakes.