Alphabet (GOOGL-US), Google’s parent company, today asked the court to dismiss a class-action antitrust lawsuit filed by several advertisers.
A number of advertisers initially filed a class-action lawsuit against Google in 2021, accusing it of abusing its dominance in digital advertising. Judge BethLabson Freeman of San Jose, California, later dismissed the suit.
At the same time, the judge also reserved the opportunity for the plaintiff to file a lawsuit again, saying that the plaintiff needs to clarify which market they believe Google monopolizes, and further explain why Google’s refusal to support a competitor’s advertising system is an antitrust behavior, because antitrust regulations do not require Businesses need to help their competitors survive.
In response to a class-action lawsuit filed by advertisers, Alphabet said the six advertisers filing the class-action lawsuit cannot claim they were harmed by the Google Ad Exchange because they did not participate in it.
In addition, Alphabet also said that five of the six advertisers had waived their right to sue Google when they signed the terms of service, which requires that disputes should be resolved through binding arbitration. Alphabet also asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the advertiser.
Google is facing more and more antitrust scrutiny around the world, including early last year, when the European Court of Justice upheld the 2018 ruling that Google used its Android operating system, which is equipped with many mobile device products, to strengthen its monopoly position in the Internet search market. 4.34 billion euros. The failure of the appeal was a major setback for Google, but it still intends to appeal to the EU’s highest court.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has also previously accused Google of using its market dominance in online search engines and Android app stores to protect apps such as its browser Chrome and YouTube, and fined it $162 million. But Google said it decided to appeal the CCI’s ruling as a setback for Indian users and businesses that trust Android’s security features and could drive up the cost of mobile devices.
