Key takeaways:
- The U.S. Department of Justice and eight states have filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that the company’s dominance in digital advertising harms competition.
- The government’s complaint claims that Google has used its power to “neutralize or eliminate” rivals through acquisitions and to force advertisers to use its products.
- This is the fifth federal antitrust suit against Google since 2020, when the Department of Justice sued the Alphabet-owned company over what the government claims is a monopoly in search.
The U.S. Department of Justice and eight states have filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that the company’s dominance in digital advertising harms competition.
At a press conference Tuesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Google’s control of the ad market has caused publishers to charge subscription or other fees in order to make up for the lack of competition in the advertising market.
The government’s complaint claims that Google has used its power to “neutralize or eliminate” rivals through acquisitions and to force advertisers to use its products by making it difficult to use competitors’ products.
According to the complaint, Google has “corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry” by buying up competitors and steering potential customers to its own products. The company currently makes more than 80% of the revenue in the digital ad market.
This is the fifth federal antitrust suit against Google since 2020, when the Department of Justice sued the Alphabet-owned company over what the government claims is a monopoly in search. Google has yet to comment on the latest lawsuit.
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