Judge says Google must face state antitrust claims over online ads
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A federal judge has handed an early victory to states suing Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) for antitrust over online advertising, Bloomberg reports.
Judge P. Kevin Castel dismissed one claim against the tech giant, but allowed others to proceed, saying it's plausible that Google used market power in ad exchanges to push publishers to license its publisher ad server - and that claims of monopolization and attempted monopolization are also plausible, according to the report.

He dismissed the claim related to Google's Network Bidding Agreement with Facebook (META), saying the states didn't meet their burden that that amounted to unlawful restraint of trade.
About a dozen states led by Texas joined in litigation in fall 2020, and more states joined the suit in spring 2021.