Lawsuits seeking damages from Google’s illegal ad tech monopoly are piling up following the Justice Department’s successful antitrust case. Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company, is the latest in a wave of media companies that have filed suit against Google, seeking to be reimbursed for the monopoly profits the tech company allegedly made at publishers’ expense.
“Absent Google’s conduct, Vox Media would be able to make available even more, higher quality impressions for purchase on Vox Media’s webpages and create more high-quality, premium journalism,” Vox Media alleges in its lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Southern District of New York. The Atlantic, which is owned by Laurene Powell Jobs, filed a similar lawsuit in the same district this week, as did Penske Media, which is an investor in Vox Media and owns brands including Rolling Stone, Billboard, and The Hollywood Reporter. Google is also facing lawsuits from ad tech providers like PubMatic and OpenX, some of which testified in the trial about how Google’s dominance shut out competition.
(The Verge’s newsroom is editorially independent of Vox Media’s business decisions and was not involved in the decision to file this lawsuit. You can read our ethics policy here.)
The publishers claim Google’s dominance lets it “depress prices for publisher inventory below competitive levels”
The lawsuits underscore the ways that the highly technical subject of the 2024 trial impacts an ecosystem of publishers and tech providers. For example, the media company complaints outline how Google’s illegal monopoly of the market for publisher ad servers, used to manage ad space for sale on publisher websites, has effectively stymied any viable competitors they might consider moving to. The publishers also claim this dominance lets Google “depress prices for publisher inventory below competitive levels,” ultimately depriving them of greater revenue, with “no power to negotiate the terms of their ad-serving agreements.” All of the lawsuits include similar claims under federal antitrust law and New York business law.
Eastern District of Virginia Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled in early 2025 that the DOJ successfully proved that it had illegally monopolized the markets for publisher ad servers and ad exchanges, which facilitate ad transactions. Brinkema also found Google had illegally tied the two products together, making it very difficult for publishers to switch providers. But she also ruled favorably for Google on one count, finding the DOJ hadn’t shown it monopolized the market for advertiser-side buying tools.
“Vox Media’s high-quality journalism is funded by our ability to sell digital advertising against our content, and by engaging in over a decade of anticompetitive and unlawful behavior, Google has deprived Vox Media of this revenue,” Vox Media head of communications Lauren Starke said in a statement. “In filing this lawsuit, we are seeking monetary damages and an end to Google’s deceptive and manipulative practices in order to protect our ability to continue investing in the trusted content that our audience relies upon.”
“We filed this suit to ensure The Atlantic is fairly compensated for the financial damage Google has caused us, and to create a more fair playing field for the publishing and advertising industries,” Atlantic spokesperson Anna Bross said in a statement. Penske Media did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Google spokesperson Jackie Berté called the allegations “meritless” in a statement. “Advertisers and publishers have many choices and when they choose Google’s ad tech tools it’s because they are effective, affordable and easy to use.”
Brinkema is expected to rule this year on the second phase of the trial, which focused on what Google should be required to do to restore competition to the markets it monopolized. The ruling could result in anything from new restrictions on Google’s behavior to a breakup of its ad tech business.
Update, January 14th: Added statement from The Atlantic.
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