FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For media inquiries, please contact: Reggie Rucker, ILSR Communications Director
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 24, 2023) – Stacy Mitchell, co-director at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, made the following statement on the U.S. Department of Justice’s new antitrust lawsuit challenging Google’s monopoly conduct in the online advertising industry and seeking to break up the tech giant.
“For years, Google’s utter dominance of the online advertising market has meant every publisher and business, large or small, has been forced to pay Google’s monopoly tax for the right to buy and sell ads online,” Mitchell said. “Because of Google’s monopoly, companies in all sectors of the economy are paying inflated prices to reach customers, and the status quo is particularly harmful to small and local businesses that often struggle to pay Google’s outlandish taxes.
“By picking the pocket of small businesses, small newspapers, and other publishers, Google actively extracts resources from communities that need them most and threatens a free, local press that lies at the heart of our democracy.
“After decades in which enforcers looked the other way as the tech giants amassed market power, this lawsuit is yet another sign that our antitrust enforcers are again embracing their responsibility to safeguard American liberty and democracy by breaking up monopolies like Google. We applaud the Justice Department’s action today.”
Follow Stacy Mitchell and ILSR on Twitter for continued commentary on this and other antitrust issues.
###
About the Institute for Local Self-Reliance
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is a national nonprofit research and educational organization founded in 1974. ILSR has a vision of thriving, diverse, equitable communities. To reach this vision, we build local power to fight corporate control. We believe that democracy can only thrive when economic and political power is widely dispersed. Whether it’s fighting back against the outsize power of monopolies like Amazon or advocating to keep local renewable energy in the community that produced it, ILSR advocates for solutions that harness the power of citizens and communities.
If you like this post, be sure to sign up for the monthly Hometown Advantage newsletter for our latest reporting and research.