Dozens of States Join Forces To Hit Google with Another Major Lawsuit
A group of 38 states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google on Thursday, alleging that the search giant has an illegal monopoly over the online search market that hurts consumers and advertisers.
The lawsuit, announced by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., by bipartisan attorneys general.
“Consumers are denied the benefits of competition, including the possibility of higher quality services and better privacy protections. Advertisers are harmed through lower quality and higher prices that are, in turn, passed along to consumers,” Weiser said in a news release.
The lawsuit was joined by the attorneys general of dozens of states including Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico.
The lawsuit is the third to slam Google in the past nine weeks as the Department of Justice and attorneys general from across the U.S. accuse the company of abusing its immense power to harm other businesses, innovation and consumers.
European regulators have spent the past several years trying to crack down on Google, mostly with huge fines, to little noticeable effect so far.
On Wednesday, 10 states led by Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Google accusing it of “anti-competitive conduct” in the online advertising industry.
It targeted the heart of Google’s business — the digital ads that generate nearly all of its revenue, as well as the money that its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., depends upon to finance a range of far-flung technology projects.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
