Wednesday, February 03, 2021

HD Media files suit against Google, Facebook

HD Media, a West Virginia newspaper company, filed a federal antitrust lawsuit Jan. 29 against Google and Facebook charging the companies with monopolizing the digital advertising market. This is believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind filed by a newspaper company against the tech giants for their monopolistic practices, said a HD Media news release.

Owner of the Charleston Gazette-Mail, The Herald-Dispatch (Huntington) and a half-dozen weeklies, HD Media filed a 42-page complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

HD Media claims Google has monopolized the digital advertising market to such an extent that Google has been enabled to extract a supracompetitive share of HD Media’s advertising revenues, harming the company’s ability to effectively monetize its content. The complaint alleges that Google and Facebook violated antitrust laws by conspiring to further their worldwide dominance of the digital advertising market, entering into a secret agreement codenamed “Jedi Blue” to manipulate online auctions.

The complaint also alleges that Google has monopolized the digital advertising market to such an extent it threatens the extinction of local papers across the country.

“The freedom of the press is not at stake,” the suit says. “The press itself is at stake.”

“We invite every other newspaper in America to join this cause,” said Doug Reynolds, HD Media managing partner. “We are fighting not only for the future of the press but also the preservation of our democracy.”

News & Tech

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