The Department of Justice is suing Google over the company’s online advertising exchange, arguing that the company has “pursued a course of anticompetitive conduct” that has “severely weakened, if not destroyed” its digital ad competition, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday.

What You Need To Know

  • The Justice Department and eight states have sued Google, alleging that its dominance in digital advertising harms competition

  • The government alleges that Google’s plan to assert dominance has been to “neutralize or eliminate” rivals through acquisitions and to force advertisers to use its products by making it difficult to use competitors’ products

  • The antitrust suit was filed Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia

 

Google’s plan, the DOJ alleges, has been to “neutralize or eliminate ad tech competitors” with acquisitions and buyouts, followed by forcing publishers and advertisers to use Google products while stifling competing products.

“At its core, antitrust is about economic justice, and this action against Google underscores that it is a priority of this Justice Department to fight the abuse of market power,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.

In the DOJ’s complaint, joined in by eight states and filed in federal court in Virginia, the government cited an internal Google document stating that it keeps an average of at least 30 cents of each advertising dollar between advertisers and publishers using Google tools.

The lawsuit also alleges that anticompetitive actions by Google have harmed the U.S. government, and specifically the military, though increased advertising costs. 

As a result of Google's dominance, Garland said, "website creators earn less and advertisers pay more."

The department's suit accuses Google of unlawfully monopolizing the way ads are served online by excluding competitors. This includes its 2008 acquisition of DoubleClick, a dominant ad server, and subsequent rollout of technology that locks in the split-second bidding process for ads that get served on Web pages.

At minimum, the lawsuit wants Google to split off its advertising business — its ad manager suite and ad exchange — as well as "any additional structural relief as needed to cure any anticompetitive harm."

Google's ad manager lets large publishers who have significant direct sales manage their advertisements. The ad exchange is a real-time marketplace to buy and sell online display ads.

Representatives for Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company, said the suit "doubles down on a flawed argument that would slow innovation, raise advertising fees, and make it harder for thousands of small businesses and publishers to grow."

Dina Srinivasan, a Yale University fellow and ad tech expert, said the lawsuit is "huge" because it aligns the entire nation — state and federal governments — in a bipartisan legal offensive against Google.

This is the latest legal action taken against Google by either the Justice Department or local state governments. In October 2020, for instance, the Trump administration and eleven state attorneys general sued Google for violating antitrust laws, alleging anticompetitive practices in the search and search advertising markets.

The lawsuit in essence aligns the Biden administration and new states with the 35 states and District of Colombia that sued Google in December 2020 over the exact same issues.

The states taking part in the suit include California, Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Tennessee.