Recently, the European media consortium has started a lawsuit against Google for illegal economic activity and its demand on compensation in the amount of about two point three billion dollars. It is an important legal precedent.
This court case unites 32 media outlets that include both leading companies like Axel Springer and Schibsted. As against Google is accused of illegally consolidating and using advantages that were gained in the internet advertising technologies sector. Accordingly, they (the companies) imply that a lot of opportunities have been missed by this mistreatment.
Who are the media companies involved in the Google lawsuit
The media organizations, from various European Countries like Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Luxenbourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, declare that Google’s move in the digital advertising market had risked the healthy competition and the market.
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This situation, was brought to life, for both watchdogs’ as they were experiencing the lost of advertising revenue and increased ad tech service fees. Among the plaintiffs it is claimed that – despite the fact that they wouldn’t have needed Google’s alleged misconduct to use the money lost on different ventures that would have supported an otherwise unhealthy European media landscape.
Along with their lawsuit, the plaintiffs refer to past cases of regulatory action against Google, including the €220m fine by the French watchdog authority in 2021 for the same type of violations in the ad tech market. In a related news, the European Commission in June sent the company a statement of objections accusing Google of “abusive practices” in online advertising technology.
What is Google’s response to the lawsuit
However, Google, giving an opposite sided of the situation, has cited antitrust case as “speculative and opportunistic” and noted its advertising programs that were in competition from other ad-tech services are used by millions of websites and apps in their monetization along with being of assistance to them. Google, too, stresses on its work for collaborating constitutionally with the publishers throughout Europe and working to make the services to be progressive along with publishers.
The case was initiated in the Netherlands, selected for its fame as a central place for recovery of damages on the basis of the European antitrust regulations. Such a tactical maneuver serves to concentrate into a single nation’s court system instead of having to confront various jurisdictions.
This legal fight may affect not only the digital advertising sector but also the links between tech companies and media industry for a long time either in Europe or beyond its borders.
