Google again! Thirty-eight states joined antitrust lawsuits against Google

According to The Federalist, a group of 38 states filed an antitrust suit against Google, accusing it of anti-competitive practices and contracts and of monopolizing The Internet search engine market.

“As the gateway to the Internet, Google systematically reduces the ability of other companies to reach consumers,” the lawsuit said.

This is the third lawsuit against Google in recent months.

In October, the justice department filed a lawsuit against Alphabet’s Google unit, accusing it of violating antitrust laws by actively facilitating a monopoly over search engines and search advertising.

The announcement follows a year-long investigation by prosecutors, who “talked to Google’s competitors in technology and media and gathered information and documents that could be used to build a case”. The lawsuit focuses on the tech giant’s illegal exclusive contracts with apple and other companies to make Google the default search engine for its line of software products, including Safari.

Just last week, 10 states, led by Texas, accused Google of colluding with Facebook to create and maintain an illegal monopoly on digital advertising, in which big technology companies manipulated AD bids. The name of the deal is reportedly disguised as a “Star Wars” character.

Earlier in December, Facebook was also named in an antitrust lawsuit filed by 48 U.S. attorneys general, alleging that the social media giant engaged in anticompetitive behavior by acquiring smaller competitors. The Federal Trade Commission joined the group of state law enforcement executives in filing separate lawsuits.

Although Google claims to “operate in competitive markets”, many allege that it intends to promote its own service providers to stifle smaller rivals.

The suit paid off shortly after the hearing when 10 top senators asked the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the company’s anti-competitive practices.

At a hearing in July, Google CEO sundar pichai admitted that Google was trying to corner the advertising market.