Google may soon face a second antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice. According to Bloomberg, the DOJ is preparing to sue the tech giant as soon as September after a year of investigating whether it is using its powerful position to illegally control the digital advertising market. Justice Department lawyers have conducted another round of interviews to gather additional information that will help strengthen their case. These new interviews are expected to build on previous interviews conducted prior to the investigation.
The Justice Department filed its first antitrust case against the company in 2020, alleging an unfair monopoly on search and search-related advertising. For that particular case, the agency argued that forcing Android phone manufacturers to set Google as the default search engine prevents competitors from gaining traction and ensures that the company makes large amounts of money from search-related ads.
That same year, Texas filed a multi-state lawsuit against Google, in which the state’s attorney general accused the company of using “monopolistic power to control” ad pricing. The company’s advertising practices are being scrutinized not only in the US, but also in other parts of the world: the European Commission last year also opened an inquiry to see whether rival services limit access to user data for advertising purposes. In a concession to the EU’s concerns, Reuters reported in June that Google may allow competing ad platforms to run ads on YouTube.
While the DOJ has yet to officially file its case, Google spokesman Peter Schottenfels defended the company’s ad business in a statement to Bloomberg, saying: “Our ad technology helps websites and apps fund their content and enables small businesses to reach consumers around them. . world. The tremendous competition in online advertising has made online advertising more relevant, reduced ad technology fees, and expanded options for publishers and advertisers.”