A US federal judge ruled on Tuesday that online search engine giant Google must face all but one of the numerous antitrust accusations regarding its online advertising business that were brought in a lawsuit by attorneys general for Texas and 16 other states.
In 2018 Google filed and subsequently won a motion to dismiss allegations that a cooperation agreement it struck with Facebook in 2018 was an unlawful restraint of trade, with US District Judge P. Kevin Castel saying the companies had valid business reasons for the deal.
Related: Google Asks Judge To Dismiss Texas Antitrust Case
Google failed to convince judge Castel to dismiss three other counts related to the company’s market power, though the judge found that some underlying claims by the states lacked merit.
The antitrust case is one of several against Google and other big tech companies that could go to trial over the next couple of years.
Also Read: Texas Antitrust Suit Says Google Takes Up To 42% From Ads
The Texas lawsuit argues that Google has obtained and abused a monopoly over the labyrinthine set of systems that allow publishers to auction off ad space to marketers. The states have said that Google misled publishers and advertisers about the nature of these auctions, allowing it to pocket more of the money flowing through its systems. Furthermore, they say the company used a deal with Facebook – known as ‘Jedi Blue’ – to maintain its dominance when the publishers tried to develop an alternative system.
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