DOJ Sues Google Over Alleged Advertising Monopoly

The Department of Justice and eight states filed a lawsuit against Google on Tuesday, claiming the tech giant abuses its monopoly on online advertising technology and has stifled its competition through a series of acquisitions—the latest in a series of antitrust suits against Google and other large tech companies.

In the suit, filed in federal court in Virginia, the Justice Department alleges Google has “corrupted legitimate competition” in the online ad space through a “systematic campaign to seize control of” online tools used to facilitate advertising.

Specifically, the suit alleges Google has purchased its ad tech competitors and continues to “wield its dominance” online, forcing advertisers to use the site and “disrupting their ability to use competing products effectively.”

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Google’s alleged monopoly creates disadvantages for website publishers and other online advertisers “who dare to use competing ad tech products” for “higher quality or lower cost matches,” according to the suit.

The suit, filed by the DOJ along with California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia, violated the federal Sherman Act—which prohibits monopolization and the attempt or conspiracy to monopolize—and seeks to break up the company’s ad tech service by forcing it to shed some of its ad business.