Google's 'Auction-Rigging' Devices Hurt Competition, Says Complaint

Google’s “auction-rigging” devices and restrictions harmed competition in the online advertising market, alleged a Tuesday antitrust class action (docket 2:23-cv-02539) against parent company Alphabet and Meta in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles. Plaintiff Sunny Singh, a private tennis instructor living in Altadena, California, placed online and in-app display and search advertisements using Google’s services, paying the company directly to broker the placement of display advertisements on third-party websites and mobile apps, the complaint said. In display advertising, a single company, Google, “simultaneously functions as the key intermediary through which buyers (advertisers) and suppliers (publishers) of display advertising trade, in addition to its position as a leading publisher of display advertisements in its own right,” the complaint said. Google owns AdX, an exchange that transacts programming display advertising; Google Ads, which provides buying tools for small advertisers; and DV360, which has buying tools for large advertisers, the complaint noted. The company’s “anticompetitive conduct” for ad-buying tools and exchanges resulted in Singh paying more to place ads through AdX, “causing antitrust injury and giving rise to antitrust standing,” said the complaint. Google also entered into a network bidding agreement with Meta that impaired competitive bidding and transactions on Google’s final clearinghouse auctions for web display and in-app advertisements by giving Meta special advantages and proprietary information no other bidder enjoyed, the complaint alleged. Singh claims anticompetitive overcharges were assessed due to Google’s antitrust violations, and he's bringing the action on behalf of all persons and entities in the U.S. who, from Jan. 1, 2016 on, placed a display ad on a website or mobile app operated by another entity via a transaction in which the impression was sold, brokered, exchanged or auctioned by Google. Causes of action include monopolization, restraint of trade, unlawful trust, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices, the complaint says.