UPDATED 20:36 EDT / SEPTEMBER 01 2021

POLICY

Justice Department may file second antitrust lawsuit against Google

The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to file a second lawsuit against Google LLC alleging anticompetitive behavior, according to a new report today.

Bloomberg, referencing a person familiar with the matter, said the Justice Department is investigating Google’s digital advertising business. Although no final decision is said to have been made, the lawsuit against Google could come before the end of the year.

The investigation is an extension of the original inquiry into Google during the Trump administration. That investigation resulted in the department filing a lawsuit against Google over its search business, but it did not pursue the search giant’s advertising business at the same time.

The possible new lawsuit follows another filed by 10 Republican state attorneys general in December. The lawsuit claimed that Google was using its alleged stranglehold on the online advertising technology market to harm competitors in the online advertising industry.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claimed that Google was abusing its “monopolistic power” and engages in “false, deceptive or misleading acts” while operating its buy-and-sell auction system for digital ads. He added that Google was effectively controlling pricing and engaging in market collusion to rig those auctions.

In January, Google responded to the lawsuit following an article in the New York Times that detailed new details about the anticompetitive business practices the state attorneys general are accusing the company of.

“AG Paxton tries to paint Google’s involvement in this industry as nefarious. The opposite is true,” Google said at the time. “Unlike some B2B companies in this space, a consumer internet company like Google has an incentive to maintain a positive user experience and a sustainable internet that works for all — consumers, advertisers and publishers.”

Google’s responded to the Bloomberg report by noting that along with helping websites and apps fund their content, “there is enormous competition in advertising tools, which has made online ads more relevant, reduced fees, and expanded options for publishers and advertisers.”

If the new lawsuit goes ahead, it may also be indicative of the Biden administration’s desire to crack down on big tech. in July, the administration appointed Jonathan Kanter, a veteran antitrust law and longstanding critic of both Google and Facebook Inc. as head of the antitrust division of the Department of Justice.

Photo: Unsplash

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