Attorney General James Wins Case Against Google for Monopolies in Digital Advertising

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced a major court victory after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found that Google has violated the law by maintaining illegal monopolies in the digital advertising technology industry, stifling competition and harming website publishers, advertisers, and consumers. Attorney General James led a coalition of 17 attorneys general joining the Department of Justice (DOJ) to sue Google in 2023, seeking to stop Google’s anticompetitive conduct that threatens markets in the online advertising industry. 

“Google’s monopolies allow it to soak up excessive profits, leaving less for the workers and businesses whose livelihoods depend on online advertising,” said Attorney General James. “Everyone from major news organizations to small independent bloggers has taken a financial hit because of Google’s conduct, making it harder to continue to offer free, high-quality content online for everyone. Today we won a major victory after a court found Google violated the law when it used its power and influence to limit competition. I look forward to continuing this case to deliver real change and restore competition to online advertising platforms that workers and businesses across the country rely on.”

In January 2023, Attorney General James, DOJ, and the coalition of attorneys general sued Google for stifling competition in the advertising technology industry, harming website publishers, advertisers, and consumers. The lawsuit alleged Google’s market power allows it to control nearly every aspect of online ad sales, allowing it to extract higher fees from advertisers while paying lower amounts to publishers for their ad space. This conduct hurts consumers and web publishers by making it harder for websites to make enough money on their advertising inventory, preventing them from offering internet users content for free, without subscriptions, paywalls, or alternative forms of monetization.

Today’s decision, issued by Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia, found Google liable for violating antitrust law by acquiring and maintaining monopolies in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising. The judge also found Google liable for unlawfully tying together its publisher ad server and its ad exchange and that Google harmed competition, its own customers, and Internet users by imposing anticompetitive policies that reduced quality and increased prices.

A second phase of the trial to determine remedies for Google’s conduct will take place at a later date.

This lawsuit is led by Attorney General James, the attorneys general of Virginia and California, and DOJ, along with the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington, and West Virginia.

This matter is being handled for New York by Assistant Attorney General Morgan J. Feder of the Antitrust Bureau and Antitrust Bureau Chief Elinor Hoffmann. The Antitrust Bureau is a part of the Division of Economic Justice, which is overseen by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D’Angelo and First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.