Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Business

Ashley Moody Takes Legal Action Against Google, Accusing Company of Violating Antitrust, Consumer Protection Laws

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced this week that she is taking action against Google for multiple violations of federal and state antitrust and consumer protection laws—including anticompetitive conduct, exclusionary practices, and false and deceptive misrepresentations in connection with its role in the multitrillion-dollar online-display advertising industry.

Share Story Via Text, E-Mail, Facebook or Twitter

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced this week that she is taking action against Google for multiple violations of federal and state antitrust and consumer protection laws—including anticompetitive conduct, exclusionary practices, and false and deceptive misrepresentations in connection with its role in the multitrillion-dollar online-display advertising industry.

Moody also accused Google of having made false and deceptive misrepresentations to consumers regarding Google’s privacy practices. Moody’s office claimed Google’s monopolization of online-display advertising involves an anticompetitive agreement with Facebook, making misrepresentations to users and customers, and suppressing competition. Moody is joined by a bipartisan multistate coalition of 14 other state attorneys general in the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

“For far too long, Google has used its size and position as one of the largest tech giants in the world to manipulate and unfairly monopolize the marketplace. The core of American economic success lies on our foundation of capitalism and a free, fair and competitive marketplace,” Moody said on Tuesday.

“Google knowingly and willingly monopolized the products and services used by advertisers in online-display advertising. The company also engaged in false and deceptive acts while buying and selling the online-display ads. Through their monopolization and deceptive acts, Google greatly decreased other publishers’ ability to monetize their content while simultaneously increasing costs to advertisers. Most of all, Google harmed consumers, including the millions of Floridians who use the search engine daily,” Moody added

“The internet revolutionized the way people consume content and the type of ads that companies can purchase to reach consumers, including online-display ads. In addition to representing both the buyers and sellers of online-display advertising, Google competes directly against the buyers and sellers they separately represent—all while operating the largest exchange on which these ad products are bought and sold. Google exchanges trades in billions of ad impressions a day,” Moody’s office noted.

This action alleges that Google monopolized or attempted to monopolize products and services used by advertisers and publishers in online-display advertising. The complaint also alleges that Google engaged in false, misleading and deceptive acts while selling, buying and auctioning online-display ads. These anticompetitive and deceptive practices demonstrably diminished publishers’ ability to monetize content, increased advertisers’ costs to advertise and harmed consumers.

Florida is joined in this action by attorneys general from Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Texas and Utah.

 

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Author

  • Florida Daily

    Florida Daily offers news, insights and analysis as we cover the most important issues in the state, from education, to business and politics. View all posts

Share Story Via Text, E-Mail, Facebook or Twitter

Follow Us on Social Media

Related Stories

Stories 11-14

Attorney General Ashley Moody is activating Florida’s Price Gouging Hotline following a state of emergency declaration for areas of the state preparing for Hurricane...

Attorney General Ashley Moody

On Wednesday, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and 41 other attorneys general asked congressional leaders to pass legislation requiring a U.S. Surgeon General warning...

Attorney General Ashley Moody

An unsolved homicide case that is nearly three decades old is back under the microscope in Florida. In 1996, law enforcement found Korell’s body...

Attorney General Ashley Moody

Earlier today, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against the Biden-Harris administration over its failure to produce public documents responsive to a...

Attorney General Ashley Moody

With the immigration crisis at the southern border, the Biden administration announced they were going to give legal status to spouses of illegal immigrants....

Attorney General Ashley Moody

-Earlier today, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced that Grady Judd will be the keynote speaker at the 2024 Human Trafficking Summit. Below is...

Attorney General Ashley Moody

Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution announced the arrest of a supplier in a large drug-trafficking ring that operated out of the...

Stories 7-10

Earlier this summer, Florida Daily reported that the Biden administration was planning to expand Obamacare to illegal immigrants. Now Florida is leading the legal...