It seems like Google is always under fire since the recent transition into the privacy era. Last year Google was sued by 40 states for their location-tracking practices that ended in a settlement of $392 million. They were also sued last year over their online advertising by the Department of Justice which will be going to trial in September 2023. Google has recently been sued again in January 2023 for continuing to try to control the entire digital advertising market and “become the ‘be-all, and end-all location for all ad serving”.
Google uses Search, YouTube, Google Network ads and more to compete in the online advertising industry and claim in their defense that they are not the only major company in the industry. Meta is also a major competitor in the industry but we have previously covered when Google attempted to tackle this by conspiring with Facebook and giving it first dibs on Open Bidding auction terms in exchange for Facebook pushing more of their advertising budget to Google platforms. Google’s defense combats this by citing “when yield management tools became available to help publishers find better prices for their inventory in real time outside of Google’s ecosystem”.
These lawsuits, including this one, are significant because the DOJ claims these actions by Google can lead to website creators earning less and advertisers to pay more just to compete and participate in the digital advertising industry. The DOJ cites evidence of their monopoly with Google’s purchase of the publisher ad server Doubleclick that eventually became their ad server AdX which allowed them to take from the advertisers to pay the publishers while collecting a transaction fee for its “privileged position in the middle”. The DOJ also stated that “this lawsuit marks an important milestone in the Department’s efforts to hold big technology companies accountable for violations of the antitrust laws.” They are trying to make Google an example of why it is imperative for businesses to follow CDP laws in this privacy era and show that no one is excluded from this, no matter how big your business is.
With cookies going away, everyone is scrambling and struggling to keep their same data while abiding by the new privacy laws but understandably this is tough. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use Google Ads, you just need to know how to use your ads budget effectively. That is why it is important to have effective marketing strategies (especially first party data strategies) in place that work for your business and plan for any unavoidable changes in the future, especially when using Google Ads.
For example, updating your website’s analytics to the most recent version (GA4) and website tags is a great way to do this. If you don’t know what that means or how to do that, KMJ can help. Our marketing team and strategist can handle this for you and make sure you are still receiving the data your business needs. Contact us today!
Sources
Feiner, Lauren. “DOJ Files Second Antitrust Suit against Google, Seeks to Break up Its Ad Business.” CNBC, CNBC, 24 Jan. 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/24/doj-files-second-antitrust-lawsuit-against-google.html.
“Justice Department Sues Google for Monopolizing Digital Advertising Technologies.” The United States Department of Justice, 25 Jan. 2023, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-google-monopolizing-digital-advertising-technologies.
