US states led by Texas have filed an updated antitrust lawsuit against Google that accuses the tech giant of disruptive and unfair business practices to bolster its bottom line.
The amended allegations accuse Google of monopolistic tactics, in regards to its ads business, news agency Reuters reported. The lawsuit states that Google forced or coerced advertisers to maintain its market and keep competition at bay.
Also Read: Dozens of US states sue Google alleging antitrust violations
The highlight is a secret program that was supposedly run by Google called Project Bernanke.
In 2013, Google used bidding data to give itself an advantage over the competition in the ad space.
In 2015, Google apparently dropped all the second-highest bids in the publisher auction. It then combined that money in a pool to inflate bids by companies that used Google Ads. The lawsuit says that without the manipulation, the companies would have likely lost at the auctions.
Recently, Google lost its appeal in an EU antitrust case, where it had sought to overturn a fine of $2.8 billion.
The company has been penalised close to $8 billion by the EU commission between 2017 and 2019. Three of these were antitrust breaches and two were allegations related to Google Search and Shopping.
The EU also accused Google of using Android (mobile operating system) to promote its own apps and giving them priority over others.
Also Read: Google CEO Sundar Pichai sought to keep Incognito mode issues out of spotlight, lawsuit alleges
Last year, the company was sued by the US Justice Department in conjunction with 11 states. The 64-page complaint accused the technology giant of abusing its power and dominance in search and advertising.
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