Google misled advertisers and publishers, as per an unredacted US lawsuit

As per a an unredacted lawsuit in the US, Google allegedly misled publishers and advertisers about the pricing and processes for ad auctions. The search engine giant allegedly created secret programs which deflated sales for some firms while increasing prices for buyers, the Washington State Journal reported.

The lawsuit was filed in December 2020 by 38 state attorneys general in the US charging it with maintaining monopoly over search engines and search advertising markets using anticompetitive conduct and contracts.

As per the report, the Get Alphabet Inc. Class A Report misinformed publishers and advertisers about the ad auction pricing and processes. Google is accused to have made a profit from the difference between the value of ad cost that was given to publishers and advertisers. The pool was money was then allegedly used in manipulating future auctions to strengthen the ‘digital monopoly’, it was reported.

The allegations in the unredacted filing in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York surfaced after a ruling by a federal judge to unseal an amended complaint filed last year. The Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been quoted as saying, “Our amended complaint details how Google manipulates the online display auction to punish publishers and blatantly lies to them about how they run the auction.”