The US Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland file the second lawsuit against Google seeking the breakup of Google. It is joined by 8 states in this lawsuit including the states of New York and California. The lawsuit seeks the divestiture of Double Click and other acquisitions that helped Google establish its monopoly in online advertising. It covers the ad brokering business that makes up 12% of Google revenues.
In filing the lawsuit Attorney General Merrick Garland said:
"For 15 years Google has pursued a course of anticompetitive conduct that has allowed it to halt the rise of rival technologies, manipulate auction mechanics, insulate itself from competition, and forced advertisers and publishers to use its tools.
Google has engaged in exclusionary conduct that has severely weakened if not destroyed competition in the ad-tech industry."