The Daily Mail has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, claiming the search giant wields too much advertising power and newspapers see little in return.
As Google has grown from a search engine to an advertising behemoth, it has exerted an increasing level of control over the entire advertising process. The company now controls the ad exchange, ad space on publishers pages and the inventory of available ads.
According to Reuters, The Daily Mail has had enough and is suing Google.
“The lack of competition for publishers’ inventory depresses prices and reduces the amount and quality of news available to readers, but Google ends up ahead because it controls a growing share of the ad space that remains,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit adds to a growing list of suits Google is facing, including one by the Department of Justice, as well as one by a coalition of states.