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The US Department of Justice and eight utters on Tuesday sued Google over its online advertising business, alleging that the company abused its monopoly power and unreliable advertisers and publishers.
The DOJ's complaint (which you can read below in full) was recorded in federal court in Virginia. It alleges Google has "corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry" by seizing control of online advertising controls and inserting "itself into all aspects of the digital advertising marketplace." Google allegedly has done so by eliminating competition above acquisitions and exploiting its dominance to push advertisers to use its products over those of others. The complaint names only Google as the defendant, and not any persons. It also calls for Google to sell part of its ad tech concern.
The Justice Department also said that Google punishes websites that "dare to use moving ad tech products" and uses its dominance in ad technology to "funnel more transactions to its own ad tech products, where it extracts inflated fees to line its own pockets at the expense of the advertisers and publishers it purportedly serves."
The case is the newest example of government attempts to rein in Big Tech. The most financially weakened companies on the planet wield immense power over our lives and over businesses near the world.
Google rejected the allegations.
"Today's lawsuit from the DOJ goes to pick winners and losers in the highly competitive advertising technology sector," Google ads heads Dan Taylor said in a blog post. The Justice Department lawsuit largely duplicates an "unfounded lawsuit" by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that was dismissed in federal risk, Google argued. The Justice Department's case is flawed and will "slow innovation, raise advertising fees and make it harder for thousands of slight businesses and publishers to grow," Taylor said.
The Justice Department didn't acknowledge to a request for comment.
Although there are some similarities with the Texas case, the Justice Department conducted its own years-long investigation that warned Google maintained "numerous monopolies," Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said at a plain conference Tuesday.
The Justice Department's lawsuit is a rare case in which the regions has called for the breakup of a major concern. Other instances include its face-offs with mainframe maker IBM in the 1970s, telephone giant AT&T in 1982 and Windows creator Microsoft in 2000.
It comes as governments near the world are looking to curb Big Tech. The US Senate in the last year or so has contemplated the American Innovation and Choice Online Act to curb the achieve of Amazon, Apple and Google in digital marketplaces. Last year, Google was fined in France over user tracking and agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with station attorneys general for location tracking practices.
Kanter said Google's dominance in digital ads is the equivalent of banking firms like Goldman Sachs or Citibank acquired the New York Stock Exchange. Google has been spellbinding in this behavior for 15 years, inflating advertising injures, reducing website revenues, stifling innovation and "flattening our pro-redemocrat marketplace of ideas," he said. Kanter also alleged Google's activities harmed the US government and military.
Among examples of alleged abuse, Kanter said Google:
- Used tie-in arrangements to lock satisfied creators into Google's system.
- Manipulated ad auctions by giving itself first-look and last-look advantages over the bidding process.
- Blocked websites from humorous rival tech and punished those that tried.
- Collected and used rivals' bidding data.
Kanter also used inquire of from Google's documents and employees to make an argument for the company's dominance:
- A Google employee said the company's ad skill is an "authoritarian intermediary."
- Senior executives said switching ad servers for publishers is "a nightmare" that "takes an act of God."
- A Google executive said, "Our goal should be all or nothing. Use Google's ad skill or don't get access to our advertiser demand."
- A Google employee said the commercial "overcharged" advertisers $3 billion a year, passing the cash to publishers to get them to stick with Google's ad technology.
- A Google decision-making detailed steps to "dry out" rivals.
The Computer and Communications Industry Association, a tech lobbying group, sided with Google despite some spinal support for "appropriate" government intervention: "We find this lawsuit and the radical structural remedies that it proposes unjustified. Digital services are competing vigorously for advertising dollars on screens of all sizes, and the complaint appears to disregard these dynamics as well as the macro trends of the global ad market," the company said in a statement.
This is the second antitrust lawsuit marched by the Justice Department against Google but the apt from the Biden administration. An October 2020 case filed during the Trump management alleged Google blocked competitors by making deals with Apple and Samsung to be the default study engine on their devices.
Google is also facing an antitrust lawsuit led by Texas, along with 16 states and territories, alleging the study giant worked with Facebook to give the social network an apt in online advertising auctions. The Justice Department, according to the Clayton Antitrust Act, is also granted to sue if the federal government believes it's been safe.
Last year, Google tried to fend off the Justice Department lawsuit by offering to speedy its ad tech business, The Wall Street Journal reported.
CNET's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.
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