Google Denies Allegations of Anticompetitive Behavior with Facebook Ad Partnership—Says Charges are 'Misleading'

Google has spoken up to clear its name of the recent allegations of the lawsuit pushed by several states against the company, saying that they have been observing anticompetitive behavior with Facebook. The internet company is ready to hash it out on court, explaining that the ad arrangement was only to benefit faster site loads and headers.

The Mountain View internet company was said to only observe an "Open Bidding" contract with several companies, including Facebook, which has proposed an ad space testing that threatened Google in 2017. The social media company's proposal at that time was buying dependence on Google's platform, and not a tactic to work directly with the company.

Google has been facing several lawsuits lately, including a number of antitrust cases from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), regarding anticompetitive behavior with its business tactics and monopolistic behavior. The company denied all the allegations and lawsuits against them, fighting off different cases as they try to bring innovations to the public.

Google Denies Allegations of Anticompetitive Behavior with Facebook Ads

According to Google's blog post, the lawsuit is full of false claims and allegations against the company, even mentioning Texas' Attorney General Ken Paxton to push forth a "misleading" attack on their business. The company's blog aims to "set the record straight" and clear their name of the already circulating negative image and statements against their reputation.

Google called its arrangement with Facebook "Open Bidding," as it let the social media company and other clients buy ad spaces and "bid" for it, as offered by the company. The internet company said that money-making is given, because of advertisements that they control and insert properly as different companies wish for with their purchase.

The Mountain View giant also said that "mythical" statements were forwarded with the case which is misleading the facts regarding Google's business. For example, Google mentioned that image-based ads are overcrowded and competitive, thus resulting in a massive stream of advertisements-but the attorney general determines this as a "dominating" behavior.

Google Lawsuit: Facebook Partnership Allegations

The Texas AG and other states have pushed with the case, leading with the lawsuit that claims Google's behavior as anticompetitive and defeats the purpose of competition in the ad landscape of the internet. Allegedly, the courts found Google to be giving Facebook a partnership status instead of merely its client in advertisement arrangements.

The New York Times' report details an interview with some of the companies that wished to remain anonymous, saying that Facebook was given the better end of the stick, with a "guaranteed win rate" for the bids. Also, Google offered Facebook some fees from the winning bids in its arrangement.

Google continues to defend the "Open Bidding" tool that is fair and offers an equal business for ad placements among companies, including Facebook.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Isaiah Alonzo