Ten US states led by Texas filed a class action lawsuit against Google , accusing the company in cahoots with Facebook and antitrust violations. This is reported at website of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In addition to Texas, the lawsuit was filed by Idaho, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North and South Dakota and Utah. The claims relate to illegal activity, as a result of which the company “monopolized online advertising”.
“Google is a trillion dollar monopoly that brazenly abuses its power. The company is persuading Facebook executives to agree to a contractual arrangement that undermines the very essence of the competitive process. Google is essentially trading inside information. It is not a free market here if If it was a game of baseball, Google would act as a pitcher, batter, and judge. This is against state and federal law, “Paxton said in a statement.
According to the lawsuit, Google and Facebook have conspired to carve up the advertising market and avoid competition between companies. Facebook gained access to certain sectors of online advertising, and Google maintained its leading position in the market. The companies also agreed on actions at auctions where orders for advertising were distributed.
Due to the collusion, Google could inflate the cost of advertising for its customers. Ultimately, the financial burden fell on American consumers due to “higher prices and lower quality products and services.”
Earlier the UK wanted to impose fines for Facebook, Google and Twitter up to 10 percent of their global income. So, from Facebook, up to $ 7.1 billion can be collected, and from Google – 16 billion. According to the Financial Times, new legislation drafted by the British government requires tech giants to promptly remove and restrict the distribution of illegal content. For failure to comply with these and other requirements, they face multi-billion dollar fines.