Google hit with lawsuit by adtech firm over alleged anticompetitive practices

Independent adtech company PubMatic has filed a lawsuit against Google in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, seeking damages and a level playing field in the digital advertising market.

The company said Google’s “monopolistic and anticompetitive behaviour” had stifled competition and hampered its own ability to grow market share and revenue.

The move follows an April 2025 ruling by the same court, which found Google had “willfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power” in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising.

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In its complaint, PubMatic alleged that Google’s dominance deprived publishers and advertisers of fair competition and led to higher ad costs, reduced content diversity, and less transparency for consumers.

PubMatic said it aims to hold Google accountable while pushing to restore a more competitive digital advertising landscape, one where innovation can thrive, competition is genuine, and the open internet continues to serve as a broad source of information and opportunity.

“For nearly two decades, PubMatic has delivered sustainable innovation and efficiency in digital advertising, empowering publishers to maximise their revenue and deliver quality content to users worldwide,” said Rajeev Goel, PubMatic’s co-founder and CEO.

He added, “Google’s systematic abuse of its vast resources and immense power has harmed our business and distorted a marketplace that should have rewarded innovation and fueled transparency and competition. Instead, anticompetitive practices limited monetisation for publishers, raised costs for advertisers, and ultimately reduced choice for consumers.”

Goel said that since its founding nearly 20 years ago, PubMatic has focused on empowering content creators on the open internet through technology, transparency and infrastructure built for long-term growth.

He added that the lawsuit is intended to strengthen both PubMatic and the broader industry by holding Google accountable for its past anticompetitive behaviour.

In conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a Google spokesperson said, "These allegations are meritless. 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.”

The case comes amid a broader pushback against Big Tech. Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms was set to face trial in April, after a DC District Court judge allowed the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit to proceed.

The case, first filed in 2020 and later amended, accuses Meta of maintaining its grip on the social media market through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. According to media reports at the time, Instagram contributed more than 30–40% of Meta’s total ad revenue.

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