“Competition in ad tech is broken for reasons that are neither accidental nor inevitable.” – DOJ Complaint
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and eight U.S. state attorneys general announced Tuesday that they are suing Google for antitrust violations of the Sherman Act over the technology company’s monopoly on digital advertising technology.
Attorneys General from California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia have joined the lawsuit.
In a 155-page complaint filed with the Eastern District of Virginia, DOJ and the Attorney General explain: Used by publishers, advertisers and brokers to facilitate digital advertising. “
“For no accidental or unavoidable reason, the competition in the ad tech space is collapsing,” the complaint added, calling Google “an industry giant.”
Among other remedies, the complaint seeks damages pursuant to 15 USC § 15a. At a minimum, the sale of the Google Ad Manager suite, which includes both Google’s publisher ad server (DoubleClick for Publishers) and Google’s ad exchange, AdX. and “prohibit Google from continuing to engage in the anti-competitive practices described herein and from engaging in any other practices that have the same purpose and effect as the contested practices.”
The complaint alleges that Google harmed the United States “because the United States and its various agencies and departments are purchasers of open web display advertising.”
“The complaint filed today alleges a widespread pattern of systematic misconduct by Google in an attempt to increase its market power and stifle competition in the free market,” DOJ’s Lisa O. Deputy Attorney General of Monaco said in a DOJ statement.
She added: The lawsuit marks an important milestone in the Justice Department’s efforts to hold big tech companies accountable for violations of antitrust laws. “
In a statement to variety Commenting on the lawsuit, Google noted that a similar case recently filed by the Texas Attorney General was largely dismissed by a federal court, arguing that the DOJ’s victory would slow innovation and harm small businesses and publishers. claimed.
According to DOJ’s press release, the complaint includes an ad technology that “nearly every major website publisher uses to sell ads on their websites” by acquiring market-leading publishers. It details that the tool “Publisher Ad Server” is fully controlled by Google.advertisement
Server at the time, “Double Click for Publishers”. It manages the ad networks of dominant advertisers and allows large and small advertisers to purchase ad inventory. It also manages “the largest ad exchange (ad exchange), the technology that runs real-time auctions that match online advertising buyers and sellers” through the acquisition.
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Cantor of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said, “Today’s lawsuit concerns digital advertising that content creators use to sell ads and advertisers use to buy ads on the open internet. We want Google to be held accountable for its longstanding monopoly in technology.”
“Our complaint has had and continues to have the effect of driving out competitors, reducing competition, inflating advertising costs, reducing revenues for news publishers and content creators, and eradicating companies. It provides detailed allegations that describe how Google has engaged in ongoing actions that stifle innovation and harm the public exchange of information and ideas.”
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Author: Primakov
