On Wednesday, Texas and nine other states sued Google with accusations it of working with Facebook Inc in violation of antitrust law to boost its online advertising business. The states asked that Google compensate them for damages and sought “structural relief.” The nine states that joined Texas are Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah and Idaho
The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Texas, asks a judge to find Google guilty of breaking antitrust law and to order the violations to stop. It also accused Google of working with Facebook. The two companies compete heavily in internet ad sales and together capture over half of the market globally.
A Google spokeswoman said the company will defend itself from the lawsuit’s “baseless claims in court.” She added: “Digital ad prices have fallen over the last decade. Ad tech fees are falling too. Google’s ad tech fees are lower than the industry average. These are the hallmarks of a highly competitive industry.”
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