Gannett sues Google over alleged ad tech monopoly

Gannett (GCI) has filed a lawsuit against Google (GOOGL) for allegedly illegally monopolizing the advertising technology market. “With control over the largest ad exchange and ad server — both of which Google acquired rather than developed — Google has carried out a sophisticated, anticompetitive, and deceptive scheme for well over a decade,” Gannett argued in a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York. The publisher said that Google’s broad control of the ad tech market has hurt news publishers, claiming that online readership has grown while online ad spending has decreased for publishers.