Claims of Secret Deal Between Google, Facebook Revealed in Unsealed Lawsuit

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Google, Facebook Secret Deal Antitrust Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: A judge has unsealed formerly redacted portions of a lawsuit claiming Google monopolized ad markets and cut a secret deal with Facebook.
• Why: The tech giants are accused of colluding to manipulate ad exchanges and inflate prices.
• Where: The antitrust suit was filed in a New York federal court.

Redacted portions of an antitrust lawsuit filed against Google have been unsealed, revealing claims that Google cut a secret deal codenamed “Jedi-Blue” with Facebook to manipulate online advertising markets.

The unsealed lawsuit was filed Jan. 14 in a New York federal court after U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel ordered most redactions in the complaint unsealed in a Jan. 12 order. 

The lawsuit was originally filed by state attorneys general in Dec. 2020, who accuse Google of monopolizing display advertising markets and other anticompetitive behaviors, including cutting an illegal deal with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbereg himself, to give the social media company an advantage over other companies.

The deal, which was codenamed “Jedi-Blue,” saw Facebook allegedly agreeing to limit its advertising practice “header bidding” that reportedly got past Google’s stranglehold of the market.

Google rewarded Facebook by allegedly giving it “information, speed and other advantages” in auctions for mobile app advertising, the lawsuit states. 

Facebook’s alleged agreement with Google followed concerns raised internally by Facebook employees, the complaint says.

Google Violated Antitrust Laws with Digital Ads, AGs Say 

According to previously unsealed court documents in the antitrust lawsuit lodged October 2021, Google charged two to four times more than competitors for ad space. The lawsuit alleges Google secured a digital ad monopoly that overcharges ad publishers.

The newly unsealed redactions allege that Google grew its market share and cut out competition from 2010 through 2019 by running a secret program in which it switched second-price auctions to third-price auctions on billions of ad impressions monthly without telling advertisers or website publishers.

As a result of the program, Google inflated the price of ad bids while keeping the higher profits and not passing them on to publishers. 

Another secret program allegedly saw Google deceptively increasing the amount advertisers paid for impressions,while raking in millions of additional revenue with little oversight.

What are your thoughts on Google’s purported digital ads strategy? Let us know in the comment section below.

The states are represented by their attorneys general, Keller Lenkner LLC, the Lanier Law Firm and the Dugan Law Firm APLC.

The Google Antitrust Lawsuit is In Re: Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:21-md-03010, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Facebook, Now ‘Meta,’ Accused of Exploiting Children in Lawsuit Lodged by Ohio AG
• Meta Concealed Its Harmful Inner-Workings of Facebook, Falsely Touted Commitment To Good, Says Class Action
• Investors File Class Action Lawsuit Against Meta After Research Shows Instagram Harms Mental Health of Teenagers
• Facebook Cries Foul On FTC’s Bid To Nix Dismissal Of Antitrust Lawsuit