The Google lawsuit comes at a perilous time for Paxton, in particular. With Google, the 10 Republican attorneys general trained their attention on the hidden economy that powers much of the Internet — the instant transactions that determine which ads appear when a Web user accesses their favorite site or service. For years, Google has owned the critical technical architecture that powers the entire advertising process, state officials said. Google honed its ad business through its purchase of DoubleClick, an advertising technology company, in a 2007 deal that regulators reviewed and blessed. Since then, the attorneys general contend, Google built an unlawful monopoly in no small part because it requires publishers to use its full suite of tools.

Source: Washington Post December 16, 2020 19:42 UTC