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A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 26 January 2023
Justice Dept. sues Google over digital advertising dominance

By BARBARA ORTUTAY, ERIC er for thousands of small
TUCKER and FRANK BAJAK businesses and publishers
Associated Press to grow.” Digital ads cur-
WASHINGTON (AP) — The rently account for about
Justice Department and 80% of Google’s revenue,
eight states filed an anti- and by and large support
trust suit against Google on its other, less lucrative en-
Tuesday, seeking to shatter deavors.
its alleged monopoly on Tuesday’s lawsuit comes
the entire ecosystem of on- as the U.S. government is
line advertising as a hurtful increasingly looking to rein
burden to advertisers, con- in Big Tech’s dominance,
sumers and even the U.S. although such legal action
government. can take years to com-
The government alleged in plete and Congress has
the complaint that Google not passed any recent leg-
is looking to “neutralize islation seeking to curb the
or eliminate” rivals in the influence of the tech indus-
online ad marketplace try’s largest players.
through acquisitions and to The European Union has
force advertisers to use its been more active. It
products by making it dif- launched an antitrust inves-
ficult to use competitors’ tigation into Google’s digi-
offerings. It’s part of a new, Attorney General Merrick Garland, joined by Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta and tal ad dominance in 2021.
if slow and halting, push by Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, speaks British and European regu-
the U.S. to rein in big tech at the Department of Justice in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. Associated Press lators are also looking into
companies that have en- whether an agreement for
joyed largely unbridled ers,” Attorney General Mer- auctions to force advertis- ernment against Google, online display advertising
growth in the past decade rick Garland said at a news ers and publishers to use its accuses the company of services between Google
and a half. conference Tuesday. tools. In so doing, he add- unlawfully monopolizing and Meta breached rules
“Monopolies threaten the For 15 years, Garland said, ed, Google “engaged in the way ads are served on- on fair competition.
free and fair markets upon Google has “pursued a exclusionary conduct” that line by excluding competi- An internet services trade
which our economy is course of anti-competitive has “severely weakened,” tors. Google’s ad manager group that includes
based. They stifle innova- conduct” that has stalled if not destroyed, competi- lets large publishers who Google as a member de-
tion, they hurt producers the rise of rival technolo- tion in the ad tech industry. have significant direct sales scribed the lawsuit and
and workers, and they in- gies and manipulated the The suit, the latest legal ac- manage their advertise- its “radical structural rem-
crease costs for consum- mechanics of online ad tion brought by the gov- ments. The ad exchange, edies” as unjustified. Matt
meanwhile, is a real-time Schruers, president of the
marketplace to buy and Computer & Communica-
sell online display ads. tions Industry Association,
Garland said Google con- said competition for adver-
trols the technology used tising is fierce and the “gov-
by most major website ernments’ contention that
publishers to offer advertis- digital ads aren’t in com-
ing space for sale, as well petition with print, broad-
as the largest ad exchange cast, and outdoor adver-
that matches publishers tising defies reason.” Dina
and advertisers together Srinivasan, a Yale University
when ad space is sold. The fellow and adtech expert,
result, he added, is that said the lawsuit is “huge”
“website creators earn less because it aligns the entire
and advertisers pay more.” nation — state and federal
The lawsuit, filed in federal governments — in a biparti-
court in Alexandria, Virgin- san legal offensive against
ia, demands that Google Google. In December
divest itself of the business- 2020, 16 states and Puerto
es of controlling the techni- Rico sued Google over the
cal tools that manage the exact same issues.
buying, selling and auc- The current online ad mar-
tioning of digital display ket, Srinivasan said, “is bro-
advertising, remaining with ken and totally inefficient.”
search — its core business The fact that intermediaries
— and other products and are getting 30% to 50% of
services including YouTube, the take on each ad trade
Gmail and cloud services. is “an insane inefficiency to
Alphabet Inc., Google’s have baked into the U.S.
parent company, said in economy.” She called it
a statement that the suit “a massive tax on the free
“doubles down on a flawed internet and consumers at
argument that would slow large. It directly affects the
innovation, raise advertis- viability of a free press” as
ing fees, and make it hard- well.q