The US Department of Justice recently filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that it is abusing its dominance in digital advertising. Antitrust complaints against Google say the company uses illegal methods to mitigate threats to digital advertising technology. Additionally, it was stated that Google should be forced to sell the Ad Manager suite.
The antitrust complaint states that “It has employed anticompetitive, foreclosure, and unlawful means to eliminate or substantially mitigate threats to its dominance of digital advertising technology.”
With digital advertising making up more than 80% of his revenue at , the allegations seem like a big setback.
The Department of Justice is now asking the court to compel Google to produce revenue breakdowns that focus on its ad tech business in order to advance the lawsuit. In response to the lawsuit, Google said the government “replicates flawed claims that slow innovation, drive up advertising costs and make growth difficult for thousands of small businesses and publishers.” This statement is made in response to a lawsuit.
The U.S. federal government claims it seeks to create a “level playing field” by enforcing strict rules against anti-competitive practices. This lawsuit against Google aims to be a step in that direction.
Its stock price fell about 1.6% immediately after the lawsuit, which was not surprising since advertising is the tech giant’s main business.
