Gannett, Publisher Of The Largest News In The US, Demands Google For Monopoly Of Online Ad Technology

JAKARTA - Gannett, the largest newspaper network in the United States and USA Today publisher, filed a lawsuit against Google over Google's alleged attempt to dominate the online advertising market by monopolizing advertising technology.

In a lawsuit filed with Manhattan federal court Gannett, which has more than 200 daily newspapers, it states that Google's control over tools to buy and sell online ads forces publishers to sell cheap advertising spaces to Alphabet Inc units.

Gannett called this a "very big monopoly advantage" to Google, while publishers' revenue and Google's advertising technology competitors experienced a significant decline.

"Digital advertising is blood to the online economy," said Gannett CEO Mike Reed, in an opinion published in USA Today. "Without a free and fair competition for the digital advertising space, publishers cannot invest in their newsroom."

And Taylor, Vice President of Google Ads, said in a statement: "This accusation is a mistake." He added that publishers have a wide selection of advertising technology and "get most of the revenue" when using Google.

Gannett wants "very large" actual losses, penalties, and compensations.

The lawsuit adds to legal pressure against Alphabet, a Google parent company based in Mountain View, California, which has been targeted by regulators on two continents.

On June 14, the European Union filed a similar lawsuit and stated that Google may have to sell some of its advertising technology.

Five months earlier, the United States Department of Justice filed its own lawsuit against Google, which is now backed by 17 US states. Other state groups led by Texas are also filing a lawsuit.

In 2022, Google generated ad revenue of $224.5 billion, which accounts for nearly 80% of Alphabet's overall revenue and is a major factor in Alphabet's overall profit of 60 billion US dollars (Rp903.5 trillion).

Advertising allows Google to offer multiple services for free, including email, Android, and most YouTube video platforms.

Google's ad revenue in the first quarter amounted to USD 54.5 billion (IDR 820.6 trillion), almost unchanged compared to the previous year.

Like many newspaper publishers, McLean-based Gannett, Virginia, is facing a decline in ad revenue with an estimate that 86% of Americans are now getting online news. Gannett stated that digital advertising is a $200 billion business, an increase nearly eight times since 2009, but newspaper advertising revenues have decreased by nearly 70% during that period.

The company also revealed that print circulation in their newspapers fell by nearly 20% in 2020 and 2021, and has closed more than 170 publications since 2019, when they joined GateHouse Media.

Gannett's shares closed on Tuesday with a 1-cent drop to $1.86. The shares have fallen 70% since the merger was completed in November 2019.