Judge Allows Google Antitrust Case To Stay In Virginia

A judge has rejected a request from Google to transfer a federal antitrust lawsuit against it from Virginia to New York.

Photo Insert: The Justice Department and several states, including Virginia, sued Google earlier this year.

The ruling from US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, is a victory for the Justice Department and several states, including Virginia, that sued Google earlier this year and wanted to keep the case in the commonwealth, Matthew Barakat reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The lawsuit alleges that Google holds a virtual monopoly in online advertising that works to the detriment of consumers.

The complaint alleged that Google “corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry by engaging in a systematic campaign to seize control of the wide swath of high-tech tools used by publishers, advertisers, and brokers, to facilitate digital advertising.”

Google said that similar lawsuits, including one filed by the Texas attorney general, have been consolidated into a single case that’s now being heard in New York. Google’s lawyers said consolidating the Virginia case as well would improve judicial efficiency and reduce the risk that courts would produce conflicting rulings.

Justice Department lawyers, though, argued that the case should remain in Virginia. They said that federal antitrust cases are exempt from the law that encourages consolidation of similar lawsuits filed in multiple jurisdictions.

They also argued that their lawsuit would be bogged down if it were bunched in with all the consolidated cases.

The suit seeks to force Google to divest itself of the businesses of controlling the technical tools that manage the buying, selling, and auctioning of digital display advertising, remaining with search — its core business — and other products and services including YouTube, Gmail, and cloud services.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic