Google is being sued for fresh, massive advertising claims.

Former Guardian technology editor Charles Arthur asserts that by illegally abusing its dominant position in the market, Google illegally reduced the revenue that publishers could earn from online ads.

Google declared that it would vehemently oppose the “speculative and opportunistic” move.

Following the filing of a related complaint in November, this is the second instance of its kind.

Google is being sued

Claudio Pollack, a former director of Ofcom, filed that lawsuit and is suing the tech behemoth for up to £13.6 billion in damages.

The cases involve ad tech, or advertising technology, which determines in a split second which online advertisements customers will see, how much they will cost, and how much publishers will make.

For many companies, online display advertising is their primary revenue stream.

The antitrust and Markets Authority (CMA), a UK antitrust watchdog, is also looking into Google’s hegemony in ad technology.

Mr Arthur claims in the lawsuit, which was submitted on Thursday, that due to Google’s abuse of its position, the costs of ad tech services were inflated and publisher ad sales revenues were illegally decreased.

“The CMA is presently looking into Google’s anti-competitive behavior in the tech industry, but they lack the authority to compel Google to make up for those who have suffered losses. I’m filing this claim because the only way to correct that injustice is through the legal system,” he added.

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Majority Claims

Both legal claims request that the Competition Appeal Tribunal certify them as “opt-out” claims, which would automatically include all pertinent publishers in the case unless they choose to opt-out.

These are group claims, also known as class actions in the US, that were only legal in the UK as of 2015. The damages can be very high because they are brought on behalf of a big group or class of people.

The tribunal must choose who should head the class action if Mr Arthur and Mr Pollack do not cooperate.

Competitors

According to Google, its advertising tools “help millions of websites and apps fund their content, and enable businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers,” as well as those of their many ad tech rivals, the BBC.

Although the CMA concluded that Google was the largest provider in three important ad tech categories, the company insists it has numerous rivals. It also claims that its ad tech fees are less than, or on par with, those of the business.

In contrast, the US Justice department asserted in a case that was initiated in January that Google was a “industry behemoth” that had “corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry by engaging in a systematic campaign to seize control of the wide range of high-tech tools used by publishers.”

Google requested that the lawsuit be dismissed on Tuesday, claiming that the US government had exaggerated its position in the market.

The French competition watchdog Autorité de la concurrence fined Google €220 million in 2021 for favouring its services in the internet advertising market.

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