The Texas attorney general said he was suing Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit on behalf of a coalition of states, alleging the company manipulated digital advertising markets in violation of antitrust laws.
“This internet Goliath used its power to manipulate the market, destroy competition, and harm YOU, the consumer,” the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Twitter Wednesday.
The states’ case raises the legal stakes for Google, which depends on advertising for much of its profits. Its parent company reported digital advertising revenue of $37.1 billion in its latest quarterly report.
The new lawsuit targeting the company’s digital advertising business opens a second major front for government claims that Google illegally suppresses competition. The Justice Department and a number of states already have brought antitrust claims against the company focused on its search business.
Google on Wednesday denied engaging in any anticompetitive behavior and repeated its stance that it operates in highly competitive markets.
