Press Releases
04/17/2025
Attorney General Tong Statement on Decision in Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Case
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney
General William Tong released the following statement following today’s
decision in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruling
that Google illegally maintained an online monopoly in the advertising technology
market.
“This is a game-changer,” said
Attorney General Tong. “As Judge Brinkema writes in her decision, Google
was in direct violation of the Sherman Act by dictating how digital ads are
sold and the terms under which its rivals can compete. With this victory in
hand, we can hopefully work now towards restoring a fair, free, and competitive
digital advertising marketplace. This decision is the first step in opening up
competition so that Connecticut businesses and consumers will pay less for
advertising – and therefore less for goods and services. We will no longer be
under the thumb of a gigantic multinational conglomerate.”
In the lawsuit, the states and
Department of Justice alleged that Google has thwarted competition in this
business sector over the past 15 years by systematically acquiring control over
key ad-tech industry tools, including the largest advertising exchange where
digital ads are bought and sold, and imposing restrictions that have unfairly
undermined rivals’ ability to compete.
Attorney General Tong and a
bipartisan coalition of seven other attorneys general – as well as the
U.S. Department of Justice – filed
the lawsuit against Google for anticompetitive conduct in violation of
Section 2 of the Sherman Act in January 2023. In August 2024, Attorney General
Tong, the U.S. Department of Justice, and a coalition of 38 attorneys general won
a separate ruling against Google that proved the company maintained an
online monopoly in the online search market.
Click here
to read the full decision.
- Twitter: @AGWilliamTong
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Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
Consumer Inquiries:
860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov