The largest newspaper chain in the US is suing Google for monopoly on online advertising

Gannett Co., the largest U.S. newspaper chain, sued Google on Tuesday, accusing the social media company of violating federal antitrust law by attempting to monopolize the online advertising market.

The publisher of USA Today and more than 200 daily newspapers said in a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan that the media is suffering because Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc monopolize tools for buying and selling online ads.

Gannett said this forces publishers to sell more ad space to Google at low prices, resulting in “dramatically less revenue for publishers and Google’s ad-tech rivals, while Google enjoys exorbitant monopoly profits.”

Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Gannett is seeking unspecified damages.

It filed its lawsuit five months after the U.S. Justice Department filed a similar lawsuit against Google over the Mountain View, California-based company’s advertising technology.

The battle isn’t just happening in the US either, as the Canadian federal government will soon pass a law that will force Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook to back a fund that will subsidize legacy media outlets. Known as Bill C-18, the bill has faced fierce opposition on numerous fronts.

On June 14, the European Union filed its own case, saying that Google may have to sell some of its ad technology.

Google generated $224.5 billion in ad revenue in 2022, accounting for nearly 80 percent of Alphabet’s total revenue, and posted total profits of $60 billion.

Ads allow Google to offer many of its services for free, including email and much of its YouTube video platform.

Google’s advertising revenue was $54.5 billion in the first quarter, little changed from a year earlier.

Industry in crisis

Like many newspaper publishers, McLean, Virginia-based Gannett has struggled in recent years with declining advertising revenues and as more people get their news online.

Gannett said print circulation of its papers fell nearly 20 percent in 2020 and 2021, and it has closed more than 170 publications since 2019, when it merged with GateHouse Media.

According to the lawsuit, digital online advertising in the United States has increased nearly eightfold since 2009 to $200 billion in revenue, but newspaper ad revenue has fallen nearly 70 percent in that time.