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Two independent Australian media companies have braved the potential wrath of Google to lead a class action seeking to recover financial losses over allegations that the tech giant misused its market power in the advertising technology (ad-tech) sector.
The class action, filed by Piper Alderman this week, is the first of its kind against Google in Australia and follows a civil antitrust suit filed in 2023 against Google and led by the US Justice Department which has alleged that the company has monopolised multiple digital advertising technology products.
The US antitrust lawsuit is among several legal actions that Google is facing globally in France, the UK and Canada.
It also mirrors a number of class actions against Google relating to its practices in the ad-tech market in the UK, Europe and Canada.
The challenge for legal firms has been to secure parties as lead complainants for any class action with many publishers concerned about their standing with Google should they participate.
In this case, QNews, an independent Brisbane-based publisher that caters to the LGBTQI community, and Sydney Times Media, an online lifestyle publication, have stepped up to the crease to battle Google in the action that has been filed against Google LLC, Google Pte Ltd and Google Australia Pty Ltd.
The class action, which is being funded by Woodsford, is seeking compensation for losses by publishers affected by Google’s alleged misuse of market power. The publishers claim that they would have had “significantly higher revenues from selling advertising space and would have kept greater profits” if not for Google’s actions using its dominant market position as an ad-tech provider.
The class action is being brought on behalf of all publishers with websites or apps that sold advertising space targeting Australian consumers via Google’s platforms between 16 December 2018 and 16 December 2024. The platforms include Google Ad Manager, Doubleclick for Publishers, Google Ad Exchange and Google AdSense or AdMob.
“This class action is of major importance to publishers who have suffered as a result of Google’s practices in the ad-tech monopoly that it has secured,” says Greg Whyte, a partner at Piper Alderman.
“As is the case in several other jurisdictions around the world, Google will be required to respond to and defend its monopolistic practices which significantly affect competition in the Australian publishing market.”
Piper Alderman notes that Google’s conduct in the ad-tech market is “under scrutiny in various jurisdictions around the world”.
In 2021, the French competition authority concluded that Google had abused its dominant position in the ad-tech market. Google did not contest the decision, accepted a fine of €220m ($365 million) and agreed to change its conduct.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority, the European Commission, the US Department of Justice and the Canadian Competition Bureau have also launched investigations into Google or legal proceedings in relation to its ad-tech practices.
“This class action follows numerous other class actions against Google in other jurisdictions regarding its infringement of competition laws in relation to ad-tech,” says Charlie Morris, chief investment officer at Woodsford, a UK-based litigation funder with extensive experience in Australia.
“This action aims to hold Google to account for its misuse of market power and compensate website and app publishers for the consequences of Google’s misconduct.
“Working closely with economists, we have determined that Australian website and app publishers have been earning significantly less revenue and profits from advertising than they should have. We aim to right this wrong.”
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