Google is being chased once more for supposedly anticompetitive practices in online advertising.
Bloomberg claims that the U.S. The search engine’s parent business, Alphabet, Inc., could be sued by the Department of Justice for antitrust violations as soon as next month.
Internationally, Alphabet, Inc. has also been accused of violating antitrust rules and has been fined $1.6 billion for three crimes. In response to repeated complaints from European legislators, Google has proposed separating the company.
In October 2020, the federal government filed a lawsuit against the major search engine, which currently controls 83.84% of the global market. According to this case, which was filed during the Trump administration, Google’s dominance in internet advertising amounts to an unregulated monopoly.
In December of that same year, attorneys general from 16 states and Puerto Rico launched a lawsuit against Google for violating antitrust laws on a state-by-state basis. Both of these lawsuits are currently pending.
Google has rejected these allegations, claiming that its technologies are critical for supporting websites, apps, and small businesses in reaching consumers.
Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels stated in a statement that “the fierce competition in online advertising has increased relevance of online ads, decreased ad tech expenses, and extended possibilities for publishers and advertisers.”