10 US states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google

Prior to this, nine states in the United States have jointly filed antitrust lawsuits against Google. The latest participating in the lawsuit was Texas, and Facebook was also sued.

These states have jointly sued accusing Google of violating antitrust laws in the way it runs its advertising business, and Google is also suspected of colluding with Facebook to monopolize the market.

It should be noted that this lawsuit is different from the earlier antitrust lawsuits of the US Department of Justice, which means that Google is now facing two antitrust lawsuits at the same time.

In the indictment, Texas stated that the online advertising business of Google and Facebook dominates the market and that Google plays both a participant and a referee role in its business.

Google is not only responsible for operating the advertising platform, but also for setting prices, advertising channels, and advertising auctions. For companies, Google is very powerful and has no choice.

It is worth noting that Texas stated that Google was suspected of colluding with Facebook for market monopoly. This collusion was actually an agreement reached between Google and Facebook three years ago.

When Facebook announced its competition with Google at that time, Google and Facebook reached a cooperation agreement, in which Google agreed to give Facebook a certain advantage in advertising auctions.

Therefore, in this lawsuit, Texas not only sued Google but also added Facebook, because this behavior obviously violates the laws of the United States and the states.

In addition, Texas and other states said that Google did not dominate the online advertising market through innovation, but achieved a monopoly through an exclusive strategy that stifles competition.

Via: NYTimes