Ten US states sue Google for 'anti-competitive' online ad sales
- 17 Dec 2020
Gulf Today Report
Alphabet Inc’s Google, already facing lawsuits by the US Justice Department and attorneys general led by Texas, now expected to be sued by ten more US states on Thursday.
According to the reliable sources a lawsuit against Google, accusing the search giant of "anti-competitive conduct" in the online advertising industry, including a deal to manipulate sales with rival Facebook, is expected to be sued for behaviour by another group of attorneys general.
Picture shown is for illustrative purposes only.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the suit, which was filed in a federal court in Texas, saying Google is using its "monopolistic power” to control pricing of online advertisements, fixing the market in its favour and eliminating competition.
"This Goliath of a company is using its power to manipulate the market, destroy competition, and harm you, the consumer,” Paxton said in the video posted on Twitter.
Like the Justice Department complaint brought in October, this group of at least 36 state and territory attorneys general, which is bipartisan, will accuse Google of violating antitrust law to maintain its dominance of online search, one of the sources said.
The new lawsuit will allege that Google favoured its own products rather than presenting a neutral search result, disadvantaging rivals to such Google subsidiaries as YouTube, the sources said.
READ MORE
Australia watchdog sues Facebook over 'misleading' VPN app
VIDEO: Algerian military helicopter crashes into sea
They added the complaint is expected to touch on how Google is using anticompetitive conduct to grow its market power in emerging product areas, such as home smart speakers as well as software for cars and TVs.
Texas’ lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday and joined by nine other states, focuses on Google’s online advertising technology.
If successful, the series of actions could result in Google paying fines, dropping out of businesses or restructuring its longstanding deals with partners.
