The coalition of more than 30 European media organizations
from 17 countries, which includes media giant Axel Springer, is alleging they
incurred losses from less competition in the advertising technology market. The
suit claims the media companies would have had higher revenue and lower
advertising fees without Google’s dominant position.
The coalition in a statement referenced a 2021 settlement
between Google and French antitrust regulators, in which the company agreed to
pay nearly $270 million in fines and make certain changes to its advertising
system and practices. Regulators said at the time that Google had used its
position to harm publishers and other ad sellers.
“News media were negatively affected at a time when their
economic model is already weakened by the decline in sales of print
subscriptions and the decline in associated advertising revenue,” the coalition
said in a statement.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The coalition said in a release that they had decided to
consolidate their claims for compensation against Google in order to avoid
having multiple claims in different countries.
The case was filed in the Netherlands and is being brought by law firms Geradin Partners and Stek.
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