Gate – Quartz

Gannett, the largest newspaper owner in the US, is suing Google, alleging that the technology company’s dominance in the digital advertising market violates federal antitrust law.

IN AND a lawsuit (pdf) Gannett alleged that Google and its parent company Alphabet illegally monopolized the online ad server and exchange markets, illegally bundled various products together to pressure customers, and presented false information in business discussions with Gannett.

“Google controls how publishers sell their ad space and forces publishers to sell a growing share of that ad space to Google at discounted prices. As a result, publishers and Google’s advertising rivals have dramatically reduced revenues while Google enjoys exorbitant monopoly profits,” Gannett wrote in a complaint filed June 20 in federal district court in Manhattan.

Gannett is not the first to make such claims. In January, the US Department of Justice sued Google in connection with similar antitrust allegations and European Commission On June 14, he filed his own lawsuit. Both governments threatened “structural” changes at Google, which in legal terms means the breakup of the company.

It’s Google versus digital advertising everywhere

Google is the leader in the digital advertising market, creating the so-called duopoly with Facebook’s parent company Meta. In 2022, he controlled Google 28.8% of the marketaccording to the research company Insider Intelligence, but in 2023 this share is expected to drop to 26.5%. In recent years, Amazon and TikTok have made reasonable profits in digital advertising, thus reducing the duopoly’s combined market share.

But that doesn’t stop the US, the EU or Gannett from targeting the top dog in the industry. The three lawsuits allege that Google exercises market control over every part of the company digital advertising technology stack – A Rube Goldberg machine of automated buying and selling platforms that determines who can advertise on which websites on the open web and for how much.

“News publishers rely on digital advertising revenues to provide the timely, cutting-edge reporting and essential content their communities rely on,” Gannett CEO Mike Reed said in a statement. Quartz, “however, Google’s practices have negative consequences that not only reduce revenues but also force reduction and coverage of local news.”

Gannett’s claims are “simply wrong,” Dan Taylor, vice president of Google Ads, said in a statement.

“Publishers have many choices when it comes to using ad technology to make money – in fact, Gannett uses dozens of competing advertising services, including Google Ad Manager,” Taylor wrote. “And when publishers choose to use Google tools, they keep the vast majority of the revenue. We will show the court how our advertising products benefit publishers and help them finance their content online.”

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