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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowGannett Co. Inc.has filed a civil lawsuit against Google and its parent company Alphabet, claiming they unlawfully hold monopolies in the advertising technology tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ad space.
The largest U.S. newspaper publisher by total daily circulation alleges in the suit that Google controls how publishers sell their ad slots and forces them to sell an increasing amount of ad space to Google at lower prices. This in turn results in less revenue for publishers and Google’s ad-tech rivals and more money for Google.
Gannett’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks an unspecified amount of damages and injunctive relief. The Virginia company is seeking a trial by jury. Gannett publishes more than 200 daily newspapers, including USA Today and The Indianapolis Star.
In January, the Justice Department and eight states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, seeking to shatter its alleged monopoly on the entire ecosystem of online advertising as a hurtful burden to advertisers, consumers and even the U.S. government. The suit accused the company of unlawfully monopolizing the way ads are served online by excluding competitors. Google is seeking a dismissal of the case.
The European Union launched an antitrust investigation into Google’s digital ad dominance in 2021. And last week EU regulators hit Google with fresh antitrust charges, saying the only way to satisfy competition concerns about its lucrative digital ad business is by selling off parts of the tech giant’s main moneymaker.
The unprecedented decision to push for such a breakup marks a significant escalation by Brussels in its crackdown on Silicon Valley digital giants, and follows a similar move by U.S. authorities seeking to bust Google’s alleged monopoly on the online ad ecosystem.
Gannett CEO Mike Reed, in an opinion piece published Tuesday by Gannett-owned USA Today, said that the company is looking to “restore fair competition in a digital advertising marketplace that Google has demolished.”
Reed claims that local news outlets are hurting because of unlawful bid-rigging practices used by Google.
“The core of the case and our position is that Google abuses its control over the ad server monopoly to make it increasingly difficult for rival exchanges to run competitive auctions,” Reed wrote.
“These claims are simply wrong. Publishers have many options to choose from when it comes to using advertising technology to monetize – in fact, Gannett uses dozens of competing ad services, including Google Ad Manager,” Dan Taylor, vice president of Google Ads said in a written statement. “And when publishers choose to use Google tools, they keep the vast majority of revenue. We’ll show the court how our advertising products benefit publishers and help them fund their content online.”
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Gannett has trashed the local news industry
+1
Serves Gannett right! They started the extortion type control of advertisers away from local privately owned newspapers when they first bought the IndyStar. Then bought the remaining papers and shut them down. What goes around comes around!
Plus the Gannett papers have driven readers and advertisers away with their lack of true journalism!
Local news was hurt by giving their core product away two decades ago and being tricked by Facebook into thinking video was the future based on absolutely garbage numbers.
Maybe start your own ad network given you own 200 papers
Google just does it better.
I worked at The Indy Star 5 years prior to the Gannett buyout, and 2 years under Gannett. I can tell you that Mike D. has it right when he say Gannett trashed the local news industry. They are notorious for being union busters, they let most of the editorial staff go, including many of their best journalists and sports writers. The Star is a shell of its former self. Gannett made the paper undesirable, and they have been terrible at creating an online presence. And now they want to blame Google and Meta? They only have themselves to blame for putting out a substandard product. Who want to advertise in a publication and online service that nobody wants? I certainly wouldn’t!
Gannett is a paper company that manufactures bird cage liners
It’s a business model for the 2020s: wring what’s left out of formerly profitable, respectable institutions by cranking out throwaway propaganda for a diminishing audience, while downsizing and laying off journalists who might actually abide by their code of ethics. Keep slicing and paring away as the readership continues to go down. Anyone else remember when the redevelopment of the Nordstrom was exciting, Indy Star touting itself and promising to build civic space as well as a vintage Newsies-style coffeeshop?
Does the Indy Star even have a big enough staff at this point to justify taking up the men’s section of the old Nordstrom?
According to the Alliance for Audited Media, the Indy Star’s Sunday subscription numbers went from just under 200K in Fall 2018 to barely 50K in Fall 2022. A 75% decline in just four years. Only the Arizona Republic did worse (barely) but the norm among Gannett’s largest newspapers in that period was a 67% decline. Unreal.
I’m hardly one to defend Google, but to pretend that Gannett can pin the blame is ridiculous.