In a lawsuit filed right this moment, PubMatic, a preferred supply-side platform that helps manufacturers purchase adverts on varied properties, accused Google of illegally monopolizing the adtech market.
PubMatic alleges that Google’s dominance within the area hampered its potential to compete successfully and obtain its full potential as measured by market share and income technology. The corporate argues that Google’s actions harm each advertisers and shoppers by imposing excessive promoting prices, limiting transparency, and limiting range of content material.
“Our view is Google’s unlawful practices within the open net advert trade ecosystem harmed PubMatic by slowing our personal progress, after which, extra broadly, disadvantaged publishers and advertisers of the advantages of honest competitors,” CEO Rajeev Goel instructed ADWEEK.
The submitting, made within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Jap District of Virginia, comes 5 months after a federal choose dominated that Google operated an unlawful monopoly in two key adtech markets: advert exchanges and advert servers. Later this month, that case is ready to enter its treatments section, the place the U.S. Division of Justice hopes that the courtroom will order a breakup of Google’s adverts enterprise.
Most of the allegations raised in PubMatic’s grievance mirror these made within the Justice Division’s win towards Google.
“Google’s abuse of energy didn’t simply hurt PubMatic—it harm publishers, advertisers, and shoppers by elevating prices, lowering selection, and limiting competitors,” Goel mentioned. “And the courtroom explicitly acknowledged this.”
Requested how PubMatic’s enterprise was materially harmed by Google’s conduct, Goel mentioned: “We imagine our progress was artificially constrained primarily based on Google’s actions and actions. We imagine we might have gained extra promoting auctions if not for Google’s conduct … and that will have led to delivering extra income to publishers, that will have led to quicker income progress and better profitability for us, which in flip would have led to extra funding again into options for our writer and purchaser prospects.”
A Google spokesperson referred to as the allegations “meritless” in a press release shared with ADWEEK, including: “Advertisers and publishers have many decisions and after they select Google’s advert tech instruments it’s as a result of they’re efficient, reasonably priced and simple to make use of.”
PubMatic is just not the primary adtech firm to go after Google straight following the landmark antitrust ruling. Final month, OpenX, one other supply-side platform, levied an identical lawsuit towards Google in the identical courtroom, as ADWEEK initially reported. OpenX has claimed that Google’s practices—together with manipulating advert bids, self-preferencing its personal expertise, and limiting publishers’ potential to set aggressive pricing—impeded competitors, broken OpenX’s enterprise, and harmed advertisers and publishers.
Now, PubMatic is searching for each monetary compensation for the alleged harms it suffered and treatments that will require Google to alter some enterprise practices, with the purpose of serving to to enhance competitors within the digital promoting ecosystem.
The corporate expects that awardable damages “will attain into the billions,” based on the grievance.
Goel emphasised the purpose, saying: “We’re unable to quantify the complete extent of damages at this stage, since discovery has not but commenced, however … we expect the damages might attain into the billions of {dollars}.”
A lawyer for the adtech firm mentioned PubMatic hopes the courtroom can even order Google to make modifications that can finish its anti-competitive conduct.
“We’re pursuing this case not just for honest damages because it pertains to PubMatic, but in addition to revive competitors, transparency, and innovation throughout the whole digital promoting ecosystem,” Goel mentioned.
The adtech firm is represented by Hueston Hennigan. John Hueston, a companion on the agency who’s serving as lead counsel for PubMatic, mentioned: “We stay up for holding Google accountable for his or her long-running anticompetitive and monopolistic schemes and to restoring a degree enjoying area for PubMatic within the digital promoting markets.”
On Friday, the EU’s govt department, the European Fee, hit Google with a effective of roughly $3.5 billion for adtech practices that it decided breach European competitors regulation.
Replace Sept. 8 at 4:46pm ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate statements from a Google spokesperson and PubMatic’s authorized counsel John Hueston.
