Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper publisher, has sued Google, accusing the tech giant of having an illegal monopoly over the technology that powers online advertising. The allegations, which mirror those lodged by the Department of Justice in a suit that seeks to break up the Alphabet-owned company, opens another front in a sprawling legal battle Google is fighting across the globe over its dominance in the digital ad market.
In the complaint filed Tuesday in New York federal court, Gannett says Google has “carried out a sophisticated, anticompetitive, and deceptive scheme for well over a decade” to control the tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ad space. The company alleges Google is taking a monopolistic cut of revenue, leading to underinvestment in newsrooms and newspapers going out of business. While the online ad market generates $200 billion a year, publishers have seen revenue drop by nearly 70 percent since 2009, according to the complaint, which notes that 170 Gannett publications have shuttered in the past four years.
Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper publisher, has sued Google, accusing the tech giant of having an illegal monopoly over the technology that powers online advertising. The allegations, which mirror those lodged by the Department of Justice in a suit that seeks to break up the Alphabet-owned company, opens another front in a sprawling legal battle Google is fighting across the globe over its dominance in the digital ad market.
In the complaint filed Tuesday in New York federal court, Gannett says Google has “carried out a sophisticated, anticompetitive, and deceptive scheme for well over a decade” to control the tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ad space. The company alleges Google is taking a monopolistic cut of revenue, leading to underinvestment in newsrooms and newspapers going out of business. While the online ad market generates $200 billion a year, publishers have seen revenue drop by nearly 70 percent since 2009, according to the complaint, which notes that 170 Gannett publications have shuttered in the past four years.
