PubMatic has sued Google over anticompetitive behavior which the independent ad-tech company alleges has hindered its growth and created an unlevel playing field in digital advertising, according to a press release. The lawsuit, which seeks financial damages and to “hold Google accountable,” was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday (Sept. 8). It follows a similar case brought against Google by OpenX, another ad exchange, last month and as a broader regulatory crackdown on the search giant reaches a key juncture.
Founded in 2006, PubMatic operates a sell-side platform focused on the open web. The company argues that it has been unable to reach its “full potential” due to Google cornering pockets of the digital advertising market, which has resulted in increased advertising costs, less diversity in content and weakened transparency, the complaint alleges. PubMatic is being represented by law firm Hueston Hennigan.
“Google’s systematic abuse of its vast resources and immense power has harmed our business and distorted a marketplace that should have rewarded innovation and fueled transparency and competition,” said PubMatic Co-Founder and CEO Rajeev Goel in a statement. “Instead, anticompetitive practices limited monetization for publishers, raised costs for advertisers, and ultimately reduced choice for consumers.”
Google could not immediately be reached for comment on the PubMatic lawsuit.
In April, a federal judge ruled that Google wields an illegal monopoly over online publisher tools and ad exchanges, but not over display advertising networks. The ruling stated that Google “willfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising,” per an excerpt quoted in the PubMatic announcement.
The Department of Justice has pushed for Google to divest certain aspects of its ad-tech business while Google has proposed milder solutions. The remedy phase of the federal antitrust trial regarding Google’s ad tech begins later this month.
Google has recently scored some wins as it battles multiple regulatory threats in the U.S. The company was found to have an illegal monopoly over search in a separate antitrust case. However, a federal judge earlier this month said that Google should not be forced to spin off its Chrome web browser or Android as a result of the decision, avoiding a dramatic and likely more deleterious outcome for the business.
