United States of America: Civil antitrust lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia advertising market

On 20 October 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) along with eleven state Attorneys General (Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, and Texas) filed a complaint with the US District Court for the District of Columbia for allegedly creating and maintaining a monopoly in the search advertising market. The DOJ states that Google did this through anticompetitive behaviour in the form of exclusivity agreements and preferential treatment of Google services, among others. Furthermore, the DOJ and the 11 State Attorneys General demand a remedy for the harm caused by the unlawful practice. The trial is expected to take place in September 2023.