Gannett, the parent of USA Today, sued Google on Tuesday, alleging that the tech giant used anti-competitive business practices to gain an illegal monopoly within the digital advertising market.
Gannett, America’s largest newspaper publisher, argued in a Manhattan federal court that Google and its parent company, Alphabet, had “carried out a sophisticated, anti-competitive and fraudulent scheme for greater than a decade.”
“Google controls how publishers sell their ad space and forces publishers to sell their growing shares of this Google ad space at discounted prices.” says application. “The result is dramatically less revenue for publishers and Google’s ad technology rivals, while Google enjoys exorbitant monopoly profits.”
The lawsuit adds one other regulatory issue for Alphabet, which already faces multiple ongoing Justice Department antitrust investigations into search activities, digital advertising practices and other elements of its vast business empire.
Separate efforts to crack down on Google’s dominance of digital advertising are underway in Europe, where regulators have signaled they may force the corporate to sell a part of its digital advertising platform.
Gannett argued that Google’s actions had a measurable negative impact on its business.
![USA today](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012061956-1.jpg?w=1024)
The grievance notes that the corporate has shut down greater than 170 publications up to now 4 years.
Elsewhere, the common day by day circulation of Gannett’s largest lively publications fell by nearly 20% between 2020 and 2021.
Digital advertising is probably the most profitable a part of Google’s business, generating $224.5 billion in revenue last 12 months. This figure accounted for nearly 80% of the corporate’s total revenue.
![Google](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012723142.jpg?w=1024)
Gannett’s lawsuit said the online digital advertising market has grown “nine-fold” since 2009 and is now price $200 billion. Despite the large receipts, news advertising revenues fell by almost 70% over the identical period.
Google didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
IN separate releaseGannett said he expects to get better “very substantial damages” within the lawsuit, in addition to “fair relief to restore competition in digital advertising.”
“Google has monopolized the market trade to its advantage and on the expense of publishers, readers and everybody else,” Gannett chairman and CEO Michael Reed said in a statement.
![Gannett](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012944375.jpg?w=1024)
“Digital advertising is the lifeblood of the online economy. Without free and fair competition for digital ad space, publishers cannot spend money on their editorial offices,” added Reed.
In recent times, Google and other big tech firms have faced increasing scrutiny of their digital advertising practices, with several locations investigating potential crackdowns.
Earlier this month, state lawmakers in California introduced a bill that might require Big Tech firms, including Facebook’s parent Meta, to pay media outlets for his or her content.
The bill, due for final consideration later this 12 months, prompted a harsh rebuke from Meta, which warned it could remove all news content from its California sites if it becomes law.