Texas Suing Google: Here’s What You Need to Know

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced that he is leading a lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of taking “illegal action to harm competition in the advertising technology industry.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Paxton said that his suit centres are on the lucrative digital advertising market, where Google earns most of its revenue. Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The lawsuit marks the second antitrust litigation against Goggle after the US Department of Justice filed a landmark monopoly case against the firm in October.

The case is yet another legal fight for Google, which faces the Justice Department’s anti-trust lawsuit on its search practices and potential legal action from a new group of state attorneys general who have already investigated the company’s anti-competitive behaviour.

Texas’ lawsuit is going after Google’s stranglehold on its corner of the ad tech market, dominated by it and its tech giant, Facebook.

The suit accuses Google of exploiting its market power to manipulate ad auctions and push up online advertisement pricing.

The suit will be filed by several states, Paxton said in a video announcement, but he did not specify which other states were involved.

Paxton has long been a foe of tech firms, and Texas is part of a new multi-state litigation against Facebook over alleged anti-competitive acquisitions and conduct.

“This Goliath of a company is using its power to manipulate the market, destroy competition and harm you, the consumer,” Paxton said.

“Google effectively eliminated its competition and crowned itself the head of online advertising.” The Department of Justice is also investigating the position of Google in the ad tech industry and could even file a complaint on the matter. The suit it has already filed focuses on Google’s use of contracts to lock its search engine as a default on web browsers and mobile devices.

Texas is one of a dozen states that filed a suit with the DOJ in October.