Update (January 24 5:15 PM ET): Google will publish its full response to the lawsuit.
What you need to know
- The US Department of Justice has filed a new lawsuit against Google.
- The lawsuit alleges that Google maintains its dominance in the digital advertising market by using anti-competitive practices.
- The lawsuit seeks to force Google to sell its advertising business.
- Google said the lawsuit was “baseless” and would undo years of technological innovation.
The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Google on Tuesday. This is his second lawsuit in three years. The lawsuit focuses on Google’s dominance in the digital advertising market and how the company maintains that lead.
A copy of the complaint, obtained by CNN, says that Google “used anti-competitive, exclusive and illegal means” to crush competition and position itself in all aspects of the digital advertising market.
Complaints are used by Google to not only use its tactics to eliminate or “neutralize” competition, but also to force advertisers to essentially use Google’s products. claims to be Ads make up the majority of Google’s revenue, with him accounting for nearly $55 billion out of $69 billion in total revenue in Q3 2022.
“Whenever Google’s customers or competitors responded with an innovation that threatened Google’s dominance over any of these ad technology tools, Google’s anti-competitive response was swift and effective,” the complaint states. It is written “Each time a threat has emerged, Google has used its market power in one or more of these ad tech tools to quell it. Succeeded.”
Lawsuits from the DOJ increased over the summer after reports that the DOJ rejected Google’s proposal to split its ad tech business into a separate Alphabet-owned company to address regulatory concerns. . A newly filed lawsuit calls for Google to sell its entire advertising business, including its Ad Manager suite. Google told Android Central in July that it had no plans to abandon the business.
In response to the newly filed complaint, a Google representative told Android Central that the Justice Department’s allegations are flawed.
“Today’s lawsuit from the DOJ is about picking winners and losers in the highly competitive ad tech space, and it’s almost like a baseless lawsuit. (opens in new tab) by the Texas Attorney General, many of which were recently dismissed (opens in new tab) by a federal court. DOJ focuses on flawed claims that slow innovation, drive up advertising costs, and make growth difficult for thousands of small businesses and publishers. “
The Justice Department filed its first lawsuit against Google in 2020 under the Trump administration, alleging that Google maintained unfair control over search through “exclusive and interlocking business agreements.” This case is still ongoing.
DOJ has filed a new lawsuit along with eight other states, including California, Colorado, Virginia, Tennessee, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island and New York.
update
Google has published a longer response to the Justice Department lawsuit in the form of a blog post. Google’s vice president of global advertising, Dan Taylor, said the lawsuit, which seeks to sell the advertising business from Google, would undo two of his acquisitions that were considered and approved more than a decade ago. stated that it is intended to
After the successful acquisition of Xandr, Taylor also spotlighted other big tech companies, such as Microsoft, which signed an advertising deal with Netflix. Other companies with a sizeable presence in the digital advertising space include Apple, TikTok, Amazon and Disney.
“[The DOJ] Companies should not be forced to void investments they have nurtured and worked hard to succeed for 15 years, especially when those investments have already been reviewed by regulators and allowed to proceed. . “
“We have spent years building and investing in our ad tech business to support a vibrant and open web. We are committed to serving publishers, advertisers and people across America. We actively oppose any attempt to destroy a tool that is functioning effectively.”
You can read the full answer on Google’s blog post.
