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Google’s ad-tech business faces lawsuit from US Justice Department, its second antitrust case

  • The US Department of Justice has accelerated an investigation of Google’s digital advertising practices, and a lawsuit could come as soon as this year
  • The DOJ under the Trump administration previously sued Google over its search business, and state attorneys general also sued over digital ad practices

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A man using a mobile phone walks past Google offices in New York on December 17, 2018. The US Department of Justice is preparing a new antitrust suit against Google, this time targeting its dominance of the ad-tech market. Photo: AP
US antitrust officials are preparing a second monopoly lawsuit against Alphabet Inc’s Google over the company’s digital advertising business, according to a person familiar with the matter, stepping up the government’s claims that Google is abusing its dominance.

The Justice Department has accelerated its investigation of Google’s digital advertising practices and may file a lawsuit as soon as the end of the year, said the person, who declined to be named because the investigation is ongoing. No final decisions have been made and the timing could be pushed back. 

Google touched a low in extended trading on the news, falling 0.6 per cent to US$2,888 at 5:03pm in New York.

The department’s scrutiny of Google’s control of the ad tech market goes back to the Trump administration. The DOJ under then-Attorney General William Barr sued Google over its search business instead, alleging the company used exclusive distribution deals with wireless carriers and phone makers to lock out competition.
That case was followed by a separate antitrust complaint filed by a group of state attorneys general led by Texas, which accused Google of illegally monopolising the digital advertising market. The states said Google reached an illegal agreement with Facebook Inc to manipulate the online auctions where advertisers and website publishers buy and sell ad space.

That agreement with Facebook is also part of the DOJ’s investigation, said the person. The Justice Department declined to comment.

Google disputes that it dominates the ad tech market, arguing that the space is crowded with major companies like Amazon.com Inc, Comcast Corp and Facebook competing for business. It also denies the states’ claim that it’s manipulating auctions to benefit Facebook.
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