TheQuartering [10/19/2021]
Facebook and Google are teaming up.
Details of alleged collusion between Google and Facebook to squash competition in the online ad space are set to be made public this week, a federal judge has ordered.
The judge’s ruling, revealed in court documents on Friday, marks a defeat for Google, which had fought for extensive redactions in an antitrust complaint brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last year. Google had argued that parts of the complaint contained confidential business information that would unfairly hurt the search giant if made public.
According to the Texas suit, Google contacted Facebook after the social media company emerged as a powerful online ad rival in 2017. The two tech giants struck “an unlawful agreement” to give Facebook “information, speed and other advantages” in the ad auctions it ran in exchange for the social network backing down from its competitive threats, according to the suit.