US class-action lawsuit against Google for 15 years of monopoly and abuse of advertising

According to the Los Angeles Times, an application filed by the US Department of Justice in a California court on January 24, suing Google for violations of antitrust laws.

“For the past 15 years, Google has used anti-competitive, exclusionary, and illegal measures to eliminate or limit any threat to its dominance,” the Justice Department lawsuit states. their digital advertising technology”.

The department alleges that Google removed millions of emails sent by the Republican National Committee (RNC) in the US to potential donors and supporters at key moments. The RNC’s emails were intended to raise campaign funds and build community but were sent to users’ spam folder by Google. The RNC alleges that Google discriminated against them by moving emails to the spam folder “because of RNC’s political connections and views”.

The 155-page lawsuit also says Google designed a system to force 2 million online advertisers, including US government agencies like the military, to pay higher advertising prices.

Federal agencies have spent more than $100 million on web advertising since 2019 and paid “super competitive fees” and “manipulated advertising prices,” the lawsuit states.

Still information from the Los Angeles Times , 8 states have agreed to join the US Department of Justice in this lawsuit against Google on the issue of monopoly and abuse of advertising. Notably, among the states that “stand side by side” with the US Department of Justice is California, where Google is headquartered.

This is the second federal antitrust lawsuit against Google, following the first in 2020. At the time, the lawsuit focused on Google’s monopoly in the search industry and was expected to be brought to the table. to go to trial next September.