Attorney General John M. Formella today announced a significant legal victory after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that Google violated federal antitrust laws by maintaining illegal monopolies in the digital advertising technology industry. This conduct has stifled competition and harmed website publishers, advertisers, and consumers here in New Hampshire and across the country.

“This is a big win for anyone who uses the internet. Google has been acting like a gatekeeper for online ads—controlling too much of the system and using that power to boost its profits at the expense of small businesses, websites, and everyday people,” said Attorney General Formella. “The court’s decision makes it clear: companies can’t play by their own rules just because they’re big. Fair competition matters, and today’s ruling is a big step toward restoring it.”

Attorney General Formella joined a bipartisan coalition of 17 attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in a 2023 lawsuit aimed at halting Google’s anticompetitive practices that have distorted the online advertising marketplace.

The lawsuit, filed in January 2023, alleged that Google used its market dominance to control nearly every facet of the online advertising ecosystem—charging higher fees to advertisers and paying lower revenues to publishers. This reduced the ability of publishers to monetize content and limited access to free, high-quality content for users.

The Court found that Google broke the law by taking over and holding too much control in key parts of the online ad business—specifically the tools that websites use to sell ads and the marketplace where those ads get bought and sold. The court also found Google liable for unlawfully tying together its publisher ad server and ad exchange, and for implementing anticompetitive policies that ultimately reduced quality, raised prices, and harmed its own customers and internet users.

A second phase of the trial will be scheduled to determine appropriate remedies for Google’s unlawful conduct.

In addition to New Hampshire, the coalition behind this lawsuit includes the U.S. DOJ along with the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.