XPost: tx.politics, alt.politics.media, sac.politics
XPost: alt.politics.usa.republican, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, comp.internet.services.google
From: democrat-criminals@mail.house.gov

https://www.bloomberg.com/technology

Alphabet Inc.’s Google reached an illegal deal with Facebook Inc. to
maintain a chokehold over the lucrative digital advertising market,
according to a lawsuit filed by 10 states led by Texas.

The complaint, which targets Google’s central role in the buying and
selling of display ads across the web, was filed in federal court in Texas Wednesday.

“Google repeatedly used its monopolistic power to control pricing, engage
in market collusions to rig auctions in a tremendous violation of
justice,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a video posted on
Twitter announcing the lawsuit.

“If the free market were a baseball game, Google positioned itself as the pitcher, the batter and the umpire,” Paxton said.

#BREAKING: Texas takes the lead once more! Today, we’re filing a lawsuit against #Google for anticompetitive conduct.

This internet Goliath used its power to manipulate the market, destroy competition, and harm YOU, the consumer. Stay tuned…
pic.twitter.com/fdEVEWQb0e

— Texas Attorney General (@TXAG)
December 16, 2020
The case marks the second antitrust action against the search giant after
the U.S. Justice Department filed a landmark monopolization case against
the company in October.

Google Monopoly Case by U.S. Sets Stage for Multi-Pronged Attack

Texas and the states said Google came to dominate the display advertising market not through innovation, but by relying on exclusionary tactics that
shut out competition.

“The Supreme Court has warned that there are such things as antitrust
evils,” the complaint says. “This litigation will establish that Google is guilty of such antitrust evils, and it seeks to ensure that Google won’t
be evil anymore.”

A Google spokesperson called Paxton’s suit “meritless” and said the
company had “invested in state-of-the-art ad tech services that help
businesses and benefit consumers.”

“Digital ad prices have fallen over the last decade,” the spokesperson
added. “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.”

The states accused Google of entering into an illegal agreement with
Facebook, its biggest competitor in the advertising market, to manipulate
the online auctions where ad space is bought and sold. The agreement
hasn’t been previously been made public.

Facebook threatened to compete against Google with its own marketplace and support a type of auction favored by publishers. Facebook then backed off
in return for Google giving Facebook “information, speed and other
advantages” in auctions run by Google for publishers’ mobile apps,
according to the complaint.

Facebook didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.

Many of the details of their arrangement are redacted from the complaint, including Google’s internal code name for the deal, which was inspired by
a Star Wars character, the complaint says.

Earlier: The FTC’s Antitrust Case Against Facebook Stakes Out New Ground

Pressure on dominant technology companies has escalated under President
Donald Trump. Last week, Facebook was sued by the Federal Trade Commission
and a coalition of states that want to break up the company by unwinding
its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, deals the government says were
part of a campaign to illegally crush competition.

The push is expected to continue under President-elect Joe Biden as the
power of internet platforms has become a rare issue that’s raised concerns
from both parties.

Paxton had also joined the Justice Department’s case in October, along
with 10 other Republican state attorneys general, in the most significant monopolization case in more than two decades. The federal case focuses on Google’s position in online search, alleging that it used exclusive deals
to extend its monopoly.

The Google adtech business, which sells services that handle almost every
step a digital ad takes on its journey from a brand’s creative team to a consumer’s screen, generated more than $21 billion in revenue in 2019.

Paxton disclosed on Tuesday he would hire the law firm of mass-torts practitioner Mark Lanier, who won a multi-billion verdict against Johnson
& Johnson in 2018, to lead the trial team. Paxton also said he plans to
hire the firm Keller Lenkner LLC, which has sued Facebook. Ken Starr, the former independent counsel whose probe led to President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, will also be a part of the team from Lanier’s firm, Bloomberg reported.

Another group of states led by Colorado are also investigating Google and
could file a third lawsuit as soon as Thursday focusing on the search and advertising business, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The Justice Department also investigated the ad-tech market, where Google operates technology for online publishers and advertisers as well as the exchanges that connect the two, Bloomberg reported. The cases could
eventually be consolidated before a single judge.

Earlier: Google Monopoly Case by U.S. Sets Stage for Multi-Pronged Attack

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Critics and competitors say Google is breaking antitrust laws in its advertising technology business by providing discounts and special
features to push advertisers and publishers to use only its products
instead of mixing and matching with competing services. On top of being
one of the world’s biggest providers of advertising space, Google also
sells software tools used by nearly every part of the complex digital
marketing industry.

Publishers and advertisers have long complained that Google’s vast and
complex digital advertising system is a “black box” that leaves them in
the dark about how ad placements are fulfilled and how prices are set.
News publishers in particular have alleged the company is not adequately compensating them for content, leading to a precipitous decline in
financial viability for journalism.

Google has previously said it has driven down the prices for ads while expanding opportunities for small businesses to reach customers. It has
also boasted that it sends 70% of revenue from digital ads back to
publishers, and has criticized the U.S. search case as “deeply flawed.”

Although Google began as a search engine, it grew quickly through
acquisitions, including that of the DoubleClick digital advertising
company in 2007, to control vast swaths of the digital advertising
ecosystem. Google also stockpiled immense troves of data -- decades’ worth
of consumer and business buying preferences and surfing habits -- to power
its ads and make it harder for new entrants.

To Read More: How Google’s Ad Ecosystem Works

In September 2019, Paxton announced on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court
that he was leading 50 attorneys general in a probe of Google’s position
in onlines ads. The move signaled bipartisan concerns about the company
and heralded escalating public pressure.

Yet the Texas-led coalition began to split in the ensuing months as other states pursued their own lines of inquiry beyond the ad market, including Google’s search business and its Android mobile operating system,
Bloomberg News reported.

Paxton, a conservative Republican, in October was accused by senior aides
of potential crimes including bribery, which he has denied. The
allegations, which aren’t related to the Google case, drew a rebuke from
the campaign arm for Democratic attorneys general, which said his failure
to resign threatened their “joint work.”

Google is also facing increasing pressure in Washington from other
corners. A House panel that spent more than a year probing dominant tech companies accused Google of stealing content from rivals to create a
“walled garden” to keep users on its properties, rather than directing
them to other sites. The panel, led by Representative David Cicilline of
Rhode Island, has proposed measures including prohibiting the companies
from participating in markets that they also operate, which could
effectively break some of them up.

— With assistance by Mark Bergen, Sarah Frier, and Jef Feeley



--
"LOCKDOWN", left-wing COVID fearmongering. 95% of COVID infections
recover with no after effects.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.

Donald J. Trump, cheated out of a second term by fraudulent "mail-in"
ballots. Report voter fraud: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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