Google Sued by US Department of Justice for Second Time Over Ad Dominance

Google headquarters pictured as the DOJ and eight states sue the search giant for its dominance in online advertising.
James Martin/CNET

The US Department of Justice and eight states on Tuesday sued Google over its ads business alleging it engages in monopolistic behavior.

The complaint, filed in federal court in Virginia, alleges that Google has “corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry” through a campaign of seizing control of tools and inserting “itself into all aspects of the digital advertising marketplace.” Google allegedly has done so by eliminating competition through acquisitions and used its dominance to push advertisers to use its products over those of others.

The DOJ also said that Google disadvantages websites that “dare to use competing ad tech products” and uses its dominance in ad technology to “funnel more transactions to its own ad tech products where it extracts inflated fees to line its own  pockets at the expense of the advertisers and publishers it purportedly serves.”

Google and the Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

This is a developing story.