Bloomberg reported that the US Department of Justice, eight states including New York, California, and Virginia sued Google (Alphabet), claiming it monopolized the digital advertising market. The lawsuit requires that Google dissolve its advertising division.
Jonathan Kanter (Justice Department Antitrust Commissioner), announced the lawsuit at Tuesday’s news conference, stating that the Virginia federal court filing aims to hold Google responsible in relation to its long-standing digital advertisement technology monopoly. “What content creators sell ads? And what can advertisers buy ads online?”
Google calls the lawsuit of US Department of Justice “An attempt at picking winners and losers in highly competitive advertising technology industry.” The case is described in the company blog “Essentially duplicates a suit unsubstantiated by the Texas Attorney General. Much of which was recently dismissed at federal court.” “The Justice Department pushes ahead with a flawed argument which will slow innovation, increase ad fees and hinder the growth of thousands small businesses and publishers,” The company stated.
Google also accused US Department of Justice of mishandling advertising products. Google noted that its solutions work alongside rival technologies, allowing advertisers and publishers to take advantage of them. “light” Choose the right service. “No one is required to use our advertising technologies. Advertisers choose them because they’re effective.” Google stated.
Google is the dominant player in the U.S. digital advertising market worth $278.6 Billion. It controls much of the technology that allows you to sell, buy and serve online advertising. According to the Justice Department Google’s dominance accounts for at least 30c of every dollar advertisers spend using its online advertising tools.
In addition to seeking damages for allegedly inflating prices for federal agencies (such as the US Army) that purchased online ads, the Justice Department lawsuit seeks damages. The lawsuit claims that the US government has spent more $100 million online on display advertising since 2019. However, it does not say how much the company will be reimbursed.
Bloomberg predicts that the litigation could take many years.