Google sued by more than 35 US states, third antitrust lawsuit filed in two months

Mounting legal challenges on the Silicone-Valley giant, the attorneys general of over 30 US states have filed a new antitrust complaint against Google which is also the third lawsuit against the online search and advertising giant in just past two months. The suit was announced on December 17 by the Colorado attorney general, Phil Weiser who was joined by the attorneys general of at least 34 other states in the US along with the District of Colombia and territories of Guam and Puerto Rico. 

The attorneys general have not only accused Google of carrying out “illegal conduct” to attain dominance in the market but also said that the American multinational technology company has denied consumers from the benefits of the competition such as the possibility of greater quality of services or privacy protections. According to Weiser’s press release, the advertisers are also harmed through Google’s “lower quality and higher prices” that according to them are passed along to the consumers. 

Read - Gmail, Other Google Services Face Outage

Further, the New York attorney general, who co-led the lawsuit against the online search and advertising giant, Letitia James said in a separate statement that Google has exploited its dominance in the market “illegally” to tackle the competition and monitoring “nearly every aspect” of users’ digital lives and make a profit of billions. According to her, it is only through Google’s misconduct that millions of people are ensured to turn to the search engine for answers.

“Through its illegal conduct, the company has ensured that hundreds of millions of people turn to Google first when looking for an answer, but it doesn’t take a web search to understand that unchecked corporate power shouldn’t have disproportionate control over our data and information,” she added.

Read - 'Google Down', 'YouTube Down' Memes Take The Internet By Storm

Google's legal challenges

The antitrust lawsuits against Google in the US appear to follow a similar path taken by the regulators in the European Union (EU) who targetted the company for several years including gigantic fines. However, the EU did not have a significant impact on the company. Meanwhile, the US has already filed three antitrust lawsuits in just last two months.

Earlier, in October, the US Justice Department was joined by at least 11 states and sued the $1 trillion company while accusing it of violating the law to maintain its position in the industry. Moreover, this week, a group of Republican attorneys general also led a lawsuit in Texas that focussed on Google’s digital advertising. 

Read - YouTube, Gmail And Other Google Services Face Massive Outage Worldwide; Company Responds

Read - Google To Extend Work From Home Until September, Eyes 'flexible Work Week': Report