DOJ Rules Against Google in Landmark Lawsuit, Says Google Violated Antitrust Laws

On August 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) ruled against Google in an historic lawsuit, finding that Google violated antitrust laws for its anticompetitive practices in search and advertising, including against news media companies. This monumental lawsuit was based on years of investigation and claims against the dominant tech platform. The News/Media Alliance aided the DOJ in its investigation by submitting its white paper, "How Google Abuses Its Position as a Market Dominant Platform to Strong-Arm News Publishers and Hurt Journalism," which substantiates Google's dominance in the marketplace, including member news publisher accounts of anticompetitive practices. In addition, the Alliance submitted its findings of similar practices with the emergence of AI in a letter to the DOJ and FTC in May. These practices are motivated by Google's interest in keeping users inside its walled gardens, thwarting competition, collecting data on our readers, and generating revenue by targeting users with ads alongside search results, including news articles. According to research, nearly 60% of users do not click through and leave Google's platform, which has a significant impact on what news and magazine publishers receive for their content.

This ruling is a big win for the industry and finally recognizes that Google's anticompetitive behavior is unacceptable and unlawful, and that it must be held accountable, and competition restored to the marketplace. Along with this ruling, the Alliance will continue to advocate for the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA, S. 1094) and the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA, AB 886) to ensure publishers are fairly compensated for the value of their content.

Looking ahead, on September 9, the DOJ will begin the trial of its case against Google for dominating the advertising ecosystem. Currently, Google takes up to 70% of every advertising dollar from publishers. The recent findings by the D.C. court will provide additional basis and momentum for these claims.