The United States Department of Justice has moved forward with a lawsuit that seeks to force Google to divest a significant chunk of its advertising business, a move which would have huge knock-on effects on the advertising industry.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday (Jan. 24), argues that Google has “corrupted legitimate competition” in the ad tech industry by “seizing control” of the wide swathe of tools that facilitate digital advertising.
Google is the only technology provider across the full ad tech supply chain that also sells ad inventory on its own properties.
The suit accuses Google of abusing its “monopoly power” to disadvantage publishers and advertisers who use competing ad tech products.
It said Google’s conduct means creators and publishers earn less and advertisers pay more than they would in a more competitive market.
“This conduct hurts all of us,” the lawsuit states.
Eight states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and…
