9 States Join DOJ’s Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google

A sign on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 24, 2019. Jeff Chiu/AP Photo

Nine states on Monday joined eight others in a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice against Google for allegedly monopolizing multiple digital advertising technology products.

The amended lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. It accuses Google of monopolizing key digital advertising technologies, known as the “ad tech stack,” in violation of antitrust laws. These technologies are crucial for website publishers to sell ads and for advertisers to reach potential customers.

Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia have joined the group of eight co-plaintiff states, which originally comprised California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Virginia. The original lawsuit was filed in January.

“We look forward to litigating this important case alongside our state law enforcement partners to end Google’s long-running monopoly in digital advertising technology markets,” said Doha Mekki, principal deputy assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, in a statement on Monday.

The lawsuit claims that Google forced more website publishers to use its tools to cement its dominance. It allegedly did this by neutralizing ad tech competitors through acquisitions, forcing more publishers and advertisers to use its products, and thwarting the ability to use competing products.

Google has denied the accusations and plans to defend itself in court. The company believes that it faces stiff competition in the digital advertising technology markets and that its services have benefited consumers and publishers alike. The company asked the court to dismiss the case in March.

DOJ Lawsuit

According to the lawsuit, ad tech tools have evolved to be able to instantly match a publisher with an advertiser as soon as an internet user opens a webpage with ad space to sell. This process usually entails utilizing an automated advertising exchange that conducts a high-speed auction intended to determine the most suitable match between a publisher who offers internet ad space and the advertisers who are interested in purchasing it.

But the lawsuit claims the ad tech space has been broken by Google’s alleged anti-competitive practices.

“One industry behemoth, Google, has corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry by engaging in a systematic campaign to seize control of the wide swath of high-tech tools used by publishers, advertisers, and brokers, to facilitate digital advertising,” the lawsuit claims (pdf).

“Having inserted itself into all aspects of the digital advertising marketplace, Google has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful means to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies.”

When the DOJ first announced the lawsuit, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that for the last 15 years, Google has attempted to eradicate or significantly reduce any challenge to its control over digital advertising technologies.

“No matter the industry and no matter the company, the Justice Department will vigorously enforce our antitrust laws to protect consumers, safeguard competition, and ensure economic fairness and opportunity for all,” Garland said in a statement.

Google Claims DOJ Misconstrues Its Efforts

Google argued in a court filing that the DOJ’s lawsuit that the lawsuit brought by the DOJ does not take into account competition from other major players in the online advertising industry and does not meet the legal requirements for claiming that Google has a monopoly.

The company further stated that the DOJ’s case is based on the assumption that Google’s business decisions over the past 15 years were part of a strategy to gain power and eliminate competition, without considering the various competitive pressures and consumer interests that shape the dynamic digital marketplace.

“Success in the digital advertising marketplace depends on placing advertisements on the most relevant publisher webpages or mobile applications in ways that most appeal to viewers. So in developing its ad tech tools, Google considers the interests of advertisers, publishers, and internet users,” the company argued in a motion to dismiss the case (pdf).

“Plaintiffs misconstrue Google’s efforts to compete to serve the interests of all of these customers as a ‘corruption of legitimate competition.’ Plaintiffs characterize Google’s every business decision over the past 15 years as evidence of a long-term scheme to amass power and choke out competition, ignoring the competitive pressures and customer interests driving Google in a dynamic and multi-sided marketplace.”

In a previous statement, Google indicated its intention to defend itself against the claims.

“The DOJ’s lawsuit does not reflect the dynamic digital advertising industry and ignores key players we compete against every day,” said Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of global ads, in a statement. “The DOJ’s lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law and we will continue to defend against it in court.”

Taylor was referring to companies like Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and other Big Tech companies.