A group of state attorneys plans to accuse Google of illegally abusing its monopoly on the technology that delivers ads online, the Texas Attorney General said Wednesday, adding to the company’s legal troubles with a case that is the crux of the matter. affects its activities.
The lawsuit is expected to be the first of regulators in the United States to focus on the tools that connect buyers of ad space with publishers who sell it. Ads generate the vast majority of the company’s profits. In October, the Justice Department and 11 states said Google had an illegal monopoly on online search engines and the ads that appear in users’ results.
“If the free market was a baseball game, Google positioned itself as the pitcher, the batter and the umpire,” said Ken Paxton, Texas attorney general, in a video on Twitter announcing the plans.
The complaint will add to the fierce two-pronged backlash against one of the country’s largest technology companies. Regulators in the United States and Europe have focused on the outsized role Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google play in the modern economy, shaping everything from how we shop to what information and what entertainment we see.
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission and more than 40 states accused Facebook of illegally crushing competition by acquiring younger rivals, arguing that the company should be broken up. An additional suit brought against Google by a separate set of states is expected soon. Apple and Amazon are also both under federal antitrust investigations.
The lawsuit announced Wednesday concerns a system that is largely invisible to consumers that connects buyers of advertising space with sellers via the internet. When an internet user clicks on a web page, the technology of Google and other companies allows the owner of that website to sell an ad on that page in real time.
A spokeswoman for Google did not immediately comment.
This is a story in development. Check back regularly for updates.