The dominant position that Google occupies within the online advertising market would be about to cause problems for the technology giant. As reported by the media, Google is facing a antitrust lawsuit against your advertising business As a result of an investigation launched by the US Department of Justice, the case is expected to be presented during the next month in a federal court in Washington or New York.
This demand would be the culmination of years of work aimed at gathering the necessary information to be able to carry out such a procedure. Likewise, the lawyers of the antitrust division of the Department of Justice would be carrying out Interviews with publishers and advertising market agents for more details.
Another factor to take into account is the figure in charge of directing the antitrust division of the Department of Justice: Jonathan Kanter. This was appointed to the position by Biden and his position before Google is known for statements against the giant, accusing him of using a «anti-competitive playbook to cut off oxygen supply to your competitors«.
A fate that Google tried unsuccessfully to avoid
Aware that something like this could happen, Google would have already taken action a few months ago. The company would raised the division of its advertising businessdividing it into two parts and transferring the one that was under the focus of the authorities, the one in charge of auctioning keywords and ads, to .
However, this movement would not have convinced the authorities as it is a trick with no more consistency than the change of company, since both parties would continue to be under the same parent company.
And, is that, the advertising platform is the goose that lays Google’s golden eggs. The multitude of tools that it includes and that allow advertisers to bid on keywords and ads for Google services and applications, as well as the possibility for other websites to generate income by inserting advertising modules managed by the technological giant, make it not only in a company that auctions digital ads, but rather an intermediary. Something that seriously harms your competition by resulting in an advantage of colossal dimensions.
Measures to reduce market dominance affect more giants
This demand coincides with a time when measures against abuses derived from dominant positions in technology markets are tightening in much of the world, especially in the USA and the European Union. The US Senate has already introduced the bill American Innovation and Choice Online Actwhich would load directly for curb the influence of the big technology companies in their markets.
This tightening of the measures, in addition to Google, would be affecting other giants such as Amazon, Meta or Apple. An example of this is the lawsuit that the US Federal Trade Commission filed against Goal, trying to force her to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. The Commission itself is also investigating amazon because of the great control it exercises over retail. And, in the case of Manzana, it would have been the US Department of Justice who would be investigating it in relation to its strict control over the App Store and the price it charges developers. However, it fits highlight how expensive these investigations are and the time it takes to complete themwhatever the result.
Google has a previous track record against the law
This is not the first lawsuit that Google faces. already in 2017 lost a lawsuit against the European Commission for which a fine of 2,420 million euros. On that occasion he was accused of abusing his dominant position in the Internet search market and favoring his Google Shopping service over its rivals.
Another notorious case is that of 2020, when the US Department of Justice took legal action against the company accusing it of harming its competition through restrictive trade agreements. Thus, Google would have taken advantage of an unfair advantage both in the search engine and in online advertising. As we pointed out before, these processes are long and tedious, which is reflected in this case itself, which not resolved yet.
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