US ready to sue Google for 'monopolising' online ads: Report

US Justice Department likely action

The Justice Department and a group of state attorneys general are likely to file antitrust lawsuits against Alphabet-owned Google, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Friday that cited people familiar with the matter. The Justice Department is moving toward bringing a case as soon as this summer. Photo: Reuters

State Attorney's view likely action

"Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican is likely to file a case, probably in the fall," according to the report. On a call with the media, Paxton said the primary focus of the investigation was the broad reach of Google`s online advertising network. Photo: Reuters

Charges against Google

"We think Google has 7,000 data points on just about every human being alive. They control the buy-side (of online advertising), the sell-side and the market which we are concerned gives them way too much power," Paxton was quoted as saying. Photo: Reuters

Google's counter against charges

In a statement to The Verge, Google said: "We continue to engage with the ongoing investigations led by the Department of Justice and Attorney General Paxton and we don`t have any updates or comments on speculation". Google has turned over more than 100,000 documents to investigators as part of the ongoing anti-trust probe.The case, if filed, would be the first major US antitrust action against a tech giant since the Bill Clinton administration`s pursuit of Microsoft in the 1990s. Photo: Reuters

Beginning of case against Google

In September last year, Attorneys General of 50 US states, led by Texas, announced a probe into Google`s anti-trust practices, focusing on whether the tech giant is overly dominant in the online advertising market and in internet searches. "This is a company that dominates all aspects of advertising on the internet, as they dominate the buyer, seller and auction side," said Paxton. Photo: Reuters

Google charges in EU too

The European Union`s anti-trust regulators last year fined Google 1.49 billion euros ($1.7 billion) for abusing its dominance in the online search market by blocking rivals.In 2013, Google said it would change some practices after it agreed to a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission. The FTC had been concerned that some of Google`s business practices could stifle competition. In 2010, the company received an anti-trust complaint from the European Commission regarding ranking of shopping search results and ads, which resulted in Google being fined $2.7 billion in 2017. Photo: Reuters