For Immediate Release:
December 16, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, ten state attorney generals led by Texas filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, arguing that Google has abused its power over key parts of the advertising technology environment and has co-conspired with Facebook to rig auctions and fix prices. The suit comes after our recent paper outlining a roadmap for an antitrust case against Google that argued that the company acquired and asserted its dominance in the ads market by creating significant barriers designed to prevent competitors from entering search and display advertising markets. Google’s unequal access to user data, lack of transparency and asymmetric information, acquisitions, and conflicts of interest have created, maintained, and expanded the company’s power.
The following can be attributed to David Dinielli, Senior Advisor at Omidyar Network:
This suit shows that public accountability for dominant tech platforms is a bi-partisan issue with broad popular support. Left to its own devices, Google has apparently played every trick in the book to achieve and maintain its dominant position in the digital ads markets. Google’s strategy of foreclosing competition translates into higher prices for consumers and a dramatic decrease in revenue for the free press. All while Google keeps monetizing and enabling the monetization of disinformation across the internet.
Omidyar Network is a venture of The Omidyar Group