Gannett sues Google, in case similar to those filed by some states and Justice Department, seeking ad-tech breakup

Gannett Co. has sued Google in a New York federal court, alleging “monopolization of advertising technology markets and deceptive commercial practices.” A bipartisan group of 17 state attorneys generals filed a similar suit against Google for monopolization of advertising technologies in December 2020, and the Justice Department and 17 additional states, filed a similar lawsuit this year, Robin Blinder reports for Editor & Publisher: "Last week, the European Union’s competition authority filed an ad-tech lawsuit against Google, citing similar circumstances" and seeking to break up the company's ad-tech business.

Why did the nation's largest publisher file its own suit? Reed told Blinder, “We just felt like we had the right size, we had the right legal counsel, and we felt like we didn't want to wait.” The vice presaident of Google Ads, Dan Taylor, told E&P, “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.”

"Not everyone is bullish on Gannett’s approach," Blinder reports. Jeff Jarvis, director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the City University of New York, told E&P, “It is tragic that once-great Gannett is resorting to protectionism and retribution against its competitors rather than have a strategy for innovation and growth in a changed marketplace. There are legitimate questions to be addressed regarding Google's power in both sides of the advertising market and authorities in both Europe and the U.S. are investigating them. But for Gannett to blame Google's alleged monopoly for its present troubles is just sad.”

Reed told E&P, “I see a robust future for journalism, for local news, regional news, national news. Consumers still engage with news every single day. We have 150 million ‘uniques’ to our news platform here in the U.S. every month. So, there’s engagement. Consumers want news. We spend all the money creating the news, and Google makes all the money on the advertising side on the back of our news. . . . We do need to get these things corrected through fair playing fields and fair compensation, and I think we will. And when we do, I think local, regional and national news will thrive, and you’ll see the number of journalists in this country going up versus going down.”