Science and Tech

The US sues (again) Google for monopoly: this time for its digital advertising business

Google did not want competition from Activision.  He ended up paying $360 million to avoid it, according to a lawsuit

The United States Department of Justice is ready to once again take on Google. The federal agency, which in October 2020 accused the Mountain View company of abusing its dominant position in the search market, has filed a new monopoly lawsuit.

According to the Office of Public Affairsthis new procedural act aims to lay the foundations to “restore competition” in the digital advertising market. In this sense, Google is accused of having “corrupted” the ecosystem of legitimate competition with a systematic campaign.

Google tried to avoid this latest lawsuit

The demand was coming. Google, which leads the podium of the largest companies in the digital advertising market, began to be investigated last year by the Department of Justice. Back then, the company offered a “concession” to avoid a new legal battle.

The movement to please the authorities consisted of create another company within Alphabet to concentrate part of its advertising business. It was a risky move, since everything would still be under the orbit of the same parent company of Google anyway.

The DOJ’s response, backed by eight states that have joined the lawsuit, has been to reject the proposal. And, as if this were not enough, he now intends to impose a severe punishment on the Mountain View giant, which could cost him millions of dollars and an internal reorganization.

Let’s see. On the one hand, the plaintiffs propose that Google have to pay a fine whose amount has not yet been defined. On the other hand, it is requested that the company Departs from Google Ad Manager Publisher Platformincluding the DoubleClick For Publishers (DFP) and AdX tools.

If the lawsuit goes ahead, it could mean a severe setback for the economy of Google’s parent company. The advertising business, thanks to the sale of advertisements in its different forms, is the company’s main source of income, accompanied by the growing business of cloud computing services.

It should be noted that the DOJ did not mince words when preparing the text that supports the complaint. The 153-page document filed in a Virginia court mentions “Google’s plan to neutralize or eliminate ad-tech competitors.”

Google, according to the plaintiffs, has achieved its objectives in two main ways: by acquiring competing companies, and exercising his dominance in all digital advertising markets to force more publishers and advertisers to use their products.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, at his appearance in Washington, has called Google “a company with pervasive conflicts of interest.” He has also claimed that he controls much of the technology related to buying and selling ad space used by the world’s leading web publishers.

According to ReutersGoogle has said that “will vigorously defend itself against accusations based on erroneous arguments”. Along these lines, he has argued that the digital advertising market is also made up of other large companies, such as Amazon, Meta and Microsoft.

Images: greg bulla

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