Today, the U.S. Department of Justice and states including California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google. The suit claims that Google “unlawfully monopolized” the online advertising market by buying up would-be competitors, freezing out rivals, and leveraging its market power in some markets to dominate others. The suit follows our letter urging the Justice Department to review Google’s conduct for anticompetitive behavior in the advertising technology market.
The following can be attributed to Charlotte Slaiman, Competition Policy Director at Public Knowledge:
“By suing Google for monopolizing advertising technology, the DOJ today aims at the heart of the internet giant’s power. The complaint lays out the many anticompetitive strategies from Google that have held our internet ecosystem back. According to the DOJ, publishers like newspapers are getting less ad revenue and advertisers are paying more to get their products in front of potential customers. But diminished competition doesn’t just mean higher prices and lower revenue – it means less innovation. We can’t build a better internet while one of its main monetization methods – advertising – is locked up.
“This complaint shows what we can accomplish with the historic investment that the Biden administration has made in fighting monopolies. It’s essential that we see that commitment to this important work continue. Repairing 15 years of anticompetitive conduct to the point where competition can thrive is a huge project. While this complaint today is the culmination of years of work by advocates, academics, and enforcers, there is still so much more to do. Congress must step up and support these bold cases with legislation as well.”
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.
