Robert Besser
28 Jan 2023, 14:31 GMT+10
WASHINGTON D.C.: The US Justice Department has filed an antitrust complaint claiming that Google is abusing its dominance in digital advertising, and threatening to dismantle one of its key businesses.
Google should be forced to sell its ad manager suite, which generated some 12 percent of the tech giant's revenues in 2021 and is a crucial part of the search engine and cloud company's overall sales.
"Google has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful means to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies," the antitrust complaint said.
With its advertising business accounting for about 80 percent of its revenue, Google said that the government was "doubling down on a flawed argument that would slow innovation, raise advertising fees, and make it harder for thousands of small businesses and publishers to grow."
In response, the government said that its Big Tech investigations and lawsuits aim to level the playing field for the smaller rivals of the group of powerful companies, which include Amazon, Facebook and Apple.
"By suing Google for monopolizing advertising technology, the DOJ aims at the heart of the internet giant's power," said Charlotte Slaiman, competition policy director at Public Knowledge, as quoted by Reuters.
This week's lawsuit follows a 2020 antitrust lawsuit brought against Google, which alleged violations of antitrust law by the company in maintaining its dominance with its monopoly in online searches.
Eight states have joined in this week's lawsuit, including California, Google's home state.
Google has "stifled creativity in a space where innovation is crucial," California State Attorney General Rob Bonta said.
Get a daily dose of San Francisco Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to San Francisco Star.
More Information(Photo credit: Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports) Nic Dowd scored twice to help the visiting Washington Capitals defeat the Chicago Blackhawks ...
(Photo credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports) On a three-game winning streak to match their longest of the brief James Harden ...
Geneva [Switzerland], December 11 (ANI): Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) member Fazal-ur-Rehman Afridi lambasted the Pakistani military establishment for trying to ...
(Photo credit: Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports) The NBA season's halfway point is still about a month away, but Milwaukee Bucks ...
(Photo credit: Yannick Peterhans-USA TODAY Sports) Russell Wilson threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns Sunday and the Denver Broncos' ...
(Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports) Having completed the first six weeks of the season without a win on the ...
WASHINGTON, DC - Within hours of blocking a UN Security Council resolution from demanding a ceasefire in the current Mideast ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: In a sign of the challenges ahead for his 2024 re-election bid, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that ...
Israel has acknowledged and thanked the United States and President Joe Biden for standing firmly by Israel's side at the ...
NEW YORK: This week, New York City officials said that one person was killed and six others were injured when ...
NEW YORK, New York - The United Kingdom refrained from supporting demands for a ceasefire in the two-months long Israel-Gaza ...
NEW YORK, New York - The U.S. was alone on Friday in a 13-1 vote for a ceasefire in the ...