Google has gone beyond its scope in a far-reaching collaboration deal with Facebook. Ten American states have come up with that accusation, including Texas.
They took Google to court on Wednesday for alleged abuse of power with its advertising services.
As far as the collaboration with Facebook is concerned, this is a deal from 2018, which allows Facebook advertisers to also place advertisements within the Google network.
In itself that is not a special deal, Google entered into similar partnerships with other parties. But what the indictment never made publicly known is that Facebook would have received preferential treatment.
Google and Facebook contradict the claims. The states have not accused Facebook of misconduct in the complaint. Google has been under more and more fire lately.
The lawsuit against Google follows a separate claim from the US Department of Justice. It claims that Google has illegally obtained a monopoly position with its search engine. Google did this by keeping competitors out of essential distribution channels.
Justice in the US already filed a competition case against Google in October. Earlier, the European Commission already started various cases about the abuse of power by American tech giants. Justice in the US is also preparing a case for possible abuse in the digital advertising market.