9 more states join federal antitrust lawsuit against Google

A group of nine states, comprising Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia, have become part of a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google. The suit contends that the search and advertising giant violated antitrust regulations while operating its digital advertising business, according to the department’s statement on Monday. Initially filed in January by the government and eight states, the ad tech lawsuit has sought to compel Google to divest its ad manager suite, citing the company’s unlawful exploitation of its online advertising dominance. This ad tech lawsuit comes on the heels of a separate 2020 lawsuit, filed during the Trump administration, which accused Google of breaching antitrust law in order to sustain its search supremacy. Antitrust lawsuits against Google could reshape the digital advertising ecosystem, fostering a more competitive market with fairer pricing, increased transparency, and better control over campaigns.