A U.S. federal judge has set a March 2025 trial date for Texas’ antitrust lawsuit against Google, which alleges that the company illegally used its market position to grow its advertising services. Texas is joined by 16 other states in the case that will be decided by a jury in federal court over an estimated four-week trial. Google has previously denied any wrongdoing in this case, and called Texas’ suit “deeply flawed,” according to Reuters.
The scheduling for the antitrust trial, decided by U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan on Jan. 2, appeased neither Google nor the states’ lawyers. Texas and the other states pushed for an August 2024 trial date, as they argued that delaying the trial would allow Google to continue its illegal market activities for longer. They said the lengthy delay was “allowing Google to abuse its market power for longer, at the expense of American consumers.” However, Google’s lawyers pushed for an even later start date, requesting one after April 2025.
“We appreciate the court’s rigorous schedule and anticipate being ready for trial on the date given,” said W. Mark Lanier, who is an attorney for Texas and the conglomerate of states. The judge said the trial will begin March 31, 2025, and be held in Plano, Texas — a town roughly 20 miles north of Dallas. Jury selection is set to start on that date, and the trial could stretch into May 2025.
Google is facing legal challenges from all angles due to antitrust allegations over advertising
Google’s upcoming federal trial is far from the only legal challenge the company has faced in recent memory. It is one of three federal cases hinging upon the same alleged digital advertising monopoly. Plus, Google settled a $700 million lawsuit last month that was related to a potential monopoly over its Google Play Store app distribution platform. Just last week, Google agreed to settle a lawsuit related to its incognito mode tracking in Google Chrome browsers. The exact terms of the settlement haven’t been released yet, but the plaintiffs were asking for a whopping $5 billion from Google.
These are just a few of Google’s legal troubles in the U.S., and there are even more happening abroad. Google has faced immense scrutiny from the European Union, which has labeled it a “gatekeeper” under the new Digital Markets Act. The EU’s strict advertising policies have also been used to target Google as well. We’re eager to see how Google fares in these lawsuits, but it will be a while before they are all concluded.
2024-01-05 15:07:15