Gannett, the largest US newspaper publisher and parent company of USA Today, filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of engaging in anticompetitive practices to establish an unlawful monopoly in the digital advertising market. The lawsuit claims that Google has implemented a sophisticated and deceptive scheme over the past decade, controlling how publishers sell their ad slots and forcing them to sell a larger portion of ad space to Google at low prices, resulting in significantly reduced revenue for publishers and competitors. Gannett’s legal action adds to the growing regulatory challenges faced by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, which is already under investigation for antitrust violations in its search business, digital ad practices, and other areas of its expansive business empire. European regulators are also pursuing measures to curb Google’s dominance in digital advertising, potentially requiring the company to divest part of its ad tech platform. Gannett asserted that Google’s actions have had a tangible negative impact on its business, citing the closure of over 170 publications in the past four years and a nearly 20% decline in daily circulation at its major active publications from 2020 to 2021. Digital advertising constitutes a significant portion of Google’s revenue, accounting for $224.5 billion and around 80% of its total revenue in 2020. Furthermore, Gannett highlighted the stark contrast between the exponential growth of the online digital advertising market, which has expanded nine-fold since 2009 and now amounts to a $200 billion industry, and the substantial decline in ad revenues for news outlets, which have plummeted by nearly 70% during the same period. Gannett expressed its expectation of obtaining significant damages and seeking equitable relief to restore competition in digital advertising through the lawsuit. Gannett’s chairman and CEO, Michael Reed, condemned Google’s monopolistic practices, claiming that they have disadvantaged publishers, readers, and the entire digital economy. Reed emphasized the importance of free and fair competition in the digital ad space for publishers to invest in their newsrooms. As scrutiny over digital ad practices grows, other major tech companies, including Google, are facing increasing regulatory pressure. California lawmakers recently advanced a bill that would compel Big Tech firms, such as Meta (formerly Facebook), to compensate media outlets for their content. Meta issued a strong response to the bill, warning that it could remove all news content from its California sites if the law is enacted.
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