Statement: News/Media Alliance Applauds Department of Justice Ruling Against Google in Landmark Antitrust Lawsuit

Today the Department of Justice (DOJ) ruled against Google in its historic lawsuit, finding that Google is in violation of antitrust laws for its anticompetitive practices in search and advertising, including against news media companies. This monumental lawsuit is based on years of investigation and claims against the dominant monopoly. Alleging instances of "tying" its products, Google's ad exchange and ad server, has a detriment to those who produce the content on what was once a free and open internet.

"We are incredibly pleased with the outcome today and applaud the Department of Justice for holding this dominant monopoly accountable for anticompetitive behavior in the digital advertising market, which has harmed countless businesses, including publishers of quality journalism," said News/Media Alliance President & CEO, Danielle Coffey. "For years, Google has exerted its dominance, profiting off of the hard work and tremendous investments of publishers, while journalism struggles to survive - all during a time when people need reliable news and information more than ever. This landmark decision finally recognizes that this is unacceptable and unlawful, that Google must be held accountable, and competition must be restored to the marketplace."

For many years, the News/Media Alliance has sounded the alarm on this issue through testimony and written filings, including its white paper, "How Google Abuses Its Position as a Market Dominant Platform to Strong-Arm News Publishers and Hurt Journalism," which it submitted to the DOJ for their investigation and which substantiates Google's dominance in the marketplace, including member news publisher accounts of anticompetitive practices. Google's take from publishers is up to 70 percent of every advertising dollar received. This has a significant impact on what news and magazine publishers receive for their content.

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