US screws Google for monopolizing advertisement

Over the past years, Google has gained immense power in the tech industry and now it has been sued by the US Department of Justice over an alleged monopoly control over the advertisement market.

According to the information, the antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on Google claims that the search giant has monopolized the digital ad market.

The DOJ is joined by 8 U.S. states in the lawsuit including New York, California, and Colorado. These states blame Google for curbing digital competitiveness and curbing other businesses.

“Google has corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry by engaging in a systematic campaign to seize control of the wide swath of high-tech tools used by publishers, advertisers, and brokers to facilitate digital advertising.” says the lawsuit.

While being filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the lawsuit wants to force Google to see much of its suit of ad technology products, which includes software for buying and selling ads.

DOJ described Google’s behavior on this matter.

“Google’s plan has been simple but effective: (1) neutralize or eliminate ad tech competitors, actual or potential, through a series of acquisitions; and (2) wield its dominance across digital advertising markets to force more publishers and advertisers to use its products while disrupting their ability to use competing products effectively.

Each time a threat has emerged, Google has used its market power in one or more of these ad tech tools to quash the threat. The result: Google’s plan for durable, industry-wide dominance has succeeded.”

Google:

Despite being sued by U.S. DOJ, Google rephrased that the digital advertisement market is healthy and competitive, citing strong competitors such as Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft.

Google has published an official answer to this lawsuit saying “DOJ is doubling down on a flawed argument that would slow innovation, raise advertising fees and make it harder for thousands of small businesses and publishers to grow.”

Google also pinpointed that the government should not pick between winners and losers in a competitive industry, which makes sense in the right way. However, Google also said that such a lawsuit will be a drawback for its advertisement technology designed for the advertisement industry.

“Threaten the free and fair markets upon which our economy is based. We will aggressively protect consumers, safeguard competition and work to ensure economic fairness and opportunity for all.” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said monopolies.