Google’s Dan Taylor says DOJ lawsuit ‘tries to rewrite history’

Dan Taylor, vice president of Global Ads at Google, said in a blog post that the lawsuit from the Department of Justice over the company’s advertising business "attempts to pick winners and losers in the highly competitive advertising technology sector." "It largely duplicates an unfounded lawsuit by the Texas Attorney General, much of which was recently dismissed by a federal court," Taylor said. "DOJ is doubling down on a flawed argument that would slow innovation, raise advertising fees and make it harder for thousands of small businesses and publishers to grow. We’ve already responded in detail to many similar claims made in the complaint led by the Texas Attorney General. The lawsuit tries to rewrite history at the expense of publishers, advertisers and internet users. DOJ is demanding that we unwind two acquisitions that were reviewed by U.S. regulators 12 years ago (AdMeld) and 15 years ago (DoubleClick). In seeking to reverse these two acquisitions, DOJ is attempting to rewrite history at the expense of publishers, advertisers and internet users. Both of these acquisitions enabled us to invest heavily in developing new and innovative advertising technologies. These deals were reviewed by regulators, including by DOJ, and allowed to proceed. Since then, competition in this sector has only increased. Government shouldn’t pick winners and losers in a competitive industry. We are one of hundreds of companies that enable the placement of ads across the Internet. And it’s been well reported that competition is increasing as more and more companies enter and invest in building their advertising businesses." Later in the blog post, Taylor said that Google’s products "expand choice for publishers and advertisers" and that the lawsuit "would reverse years of innovation, harming the broader advertising sector." Reference Link