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Google said in its court filing that the states failed to show
that it illegally worked with Facebook, now Meta, to counter
"header bidding," a technology that publishers developed to make
more money from advertising placed on their websites. Facebook
is not a defendant in the lawsuit.
The states had also alleged that Google used at least three
programs to manipulate ad auctions to coerce advertisers and
publishers into using Google's tools.
Google responded that the states had a "collection of
grievances" but no proof of wrongdoing. On some allegations,
Google argued the states waited too long to file its lawsuit.
"They criticize Google for not designing its products to better
suit its rivals' needs and for making improvements to those
products that leave its competitors too far behind. They see the
'solution' to Google’s success as holding Google back," the
company said in its filing.
Google asked for four of the six counts to be dismissed with
prejudice, which means that it could not be brought back to the
same court.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said they would press on with
the fight. "The company whose motto was once 'Don't Be Evil' now
asks the world to examine their egregious monopoly abuses and
see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil,” he said in a
statement.
The Texas lawsuit had two other claims based on state law and
made against Google which were stayed in September. The search
giant did not ask for them to be dismissed on Friday but may in
the future.
The lawsuit is one part of a long list of antitrust
investigations and federal and state litigation against the Big
Tech platforms.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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