Two Groups of States Sue Google

Accusations in court are no exception to the rule.

On Wednesday, ten state AGs led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google. The charges: Google built the “largest electronic trading market in existence,” fixed ad pricing, and levied “monopoly tax” on publishers that was handed down to consumers.

• The states also make an explosive claim, accusing Google of entering into an “unlawful agreement” with Facebook. Does Texas have a smoking gun? TBD.
• Texas also claims FB gave Google access to the contents of end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp communications. That...isn’t possible.
• Google says the “ad tech claims are meritless” and that the AGs mischaracterized a WhatsApp backup service (which isn’t E2E encrypted).

On Thursday, 35 states separately sued Google, saying it manipulates search results to disadvantage rivals.

Way bigger picture

As 2020 draws to a close, competition authorities aren’t mailing it in. Big activity in recent memory: DOJ and states vs. Google (three total); FTC and states vs. Facebook (two total); new EU legislation proposals for online platforms (two laws); and China drafting anti-monopoly rules (with Alibaba and Tencent in mind).