US-based media company Gannett has filed a federal lawsuit against Google in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The lawsuit alleges monopolisation of advertising technology (ad-tech) markets and deceptive commercial practices by Google.
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The publisher of USA Today, Gannett, claimed in a statement that Google unfairly controls all parts of internet advertising transactions, including purchasing, selling, and the exchange that connects vendors and buyers.
Google accounts for 60% of all sales at Gannett, the media company noted.
Gannett chairman and CEO Michael Reed said: “Google has monopolised market trading to their advantage and at the expense of publishers, readers and everyone else. Digital advertising is the lifeblood of the online economy. Without free and fair competition for digital ad space, publishers cannot invest in their newsrooms.”
Google generated more than $30bn in revenue from the sale of advertising space on publishers’ websites in 2022, which was six times the amount generated by digital advertising by all US news outlets combined, Gannett added.
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By GlobalDataGannett’s lawsuit is the latest in a long line of claims of anti-competitive behaviour brought against the tech company.
Similar claims of ad-tech monopolisation were made in a lawsuit against Google that was brought in December 2020 by a bipartisan group of 17 state attorneys general.
This year, the US Department of Justice filed its own ad-tech lawsuit against Google.
Last week, the European Commission said that Google violated the bloc’s antitrust laws by “distorting competition” in the advertising technology industry.
In response, Google Ads VP Dan Taylor said Gannett’s claims were simply wrong, reported CNBC.
“Publishers have many options to choose from when it comes to using advertising technology to monetise — in fact, Gannett uses dozens of competing ad services, including Google Ad Manager,” Taylor said.
“And when publishers choose to use Google tools, they keep the vast majority of revenue. We will show the court how our advertising products benefit publishers and help them fund their content online.”
