32 European media companies have joined forces to sue Alphabet's Google for $2.3 billion, saying they lost money as a result of the company's digital advertising policies. The coalition, which includes 17 European nations, accused Google of anti-competitive activity and abusing its dominance in digital advertising. 

Highlights:

• European media companies sue Google for $2.3 billion, citing anti-competitive behavior in digital advertising.
• Google faces similar charges in France, India, UK, and the US.
• Google denies allegations, calls lawsuit "speculative," emphasizes collaboration with European publishers. Filed in a Dutch court.

On February 8, their attorneys issued a press statement stating that "the media firms involved experienced damages due to a less highly competitive market, which is directly as a result of Google's misconduct." Without Google's exploitation of its dominating position, media firms would have earned substantially more from advertising and paid lower rates for ad tech services." In response to the charges, a Google spokeswoman told the Guardian that the lawsuit was "speculative and opportunistic".

Google's previous charges of anti-competitive conduct

This isn't the first time Google has faced criticism for suspected anti-competitive activity in digital advertising. The complaint also highlighted previous probes into Google's competing tactics.

• In 2021, the French competition authorities penalized Google €220 million for abusing its dominating position in the advertising server industry by giving preferential treatment to its proprietary technology. Google settled with the authority.
• In October 2022, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) charged them with depriving them of ad income. The case is still underway.
• In 2022, the UK competition authorities initiated an inquiry into alleged anti-competitive activity by Google in ad tech, which is currently continuing.
• The United States Department of Justice launched a legal case in January 2023 for monopolizing critical digital advertising technology. The case is still underway.
• In June 2023, the European Commission published a declaration of objections to the same charges of infringing EU competition law. Google issued an official reaction, claiming that it was based on "flawed interpretations of the ad tech sector."

Meanwhile, Google denied the charges, calling the lawsuit "speculative and opportunistic."

A representative emphasized Google's collaborative efforts with publishers across Europe, claiming that their advertising solutions improve in tandem with publisher demands.

Google had previously fought EU antitrust claims relating to its ad tech company, which works on both the buy and sell sides of the supply chain.

The complaint was filed in a Dutch court with the goal of streamlining legal procedures and avoiding fragmented litigation across other European states.