- The U.S. Justice Department prepared to prosecute Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google by September for illegally dominating the digital advertising market, Bloomberg reports.
- Lawyers with the DOJ's antitrust division questioned publishers in another round of interviews to procure additional details for the complaint.
- The Trump government-led scrutiny into Google's ad tech market dominance alleged exclusive distribution deals with wireless carriers and phone makers to thwart competition.
- A group of state attorneys alleged Google of conspiring with Meta Platforms Inc META Facebook to manipulate the online auctions. It also became a subject of the DOJ investigation.
- The probe would mark the DOJ's second case against Google following the government's 2020 antitrust lawsuit alleging dominance of the online search market.
- "Our advertising technologies help websites and apps fund their content and enable small businesses to reach customers around the world," reasoned Google.
- "The enormous competition in online advertising has made online ads more relevant, reduced ad tech fees, and expanded options for publishers and advertisers."
- Google controlled about 28.6% of the $211.2 billion in U.S. digital ad spending in 2021, according to eMarketer, while Facebook made up 23.8% and Amazon.com Inc AMZN 11.6%.
- Apple Inc AAPL is also under investigation by the DOJ over the App Store competitiveness.
- Price Action: GOOG shares traded higher by 0.29% at $121 in the premarket on the last check Thursday.
- Photo by Firmbee via Pixabay
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Loading...
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
Join Now: Free!
Already a member?Sign in
