Texas believes it could have an advantage in its antitrust lawsuit against Google. MLex and the Wall Street Journal has found indefinite court documents showing that Google is running a program, Project Bernanke, that allegedly gives its ad purchasing system an edge over competitors. The internet giant used data from advertisers to send advertisers to the price they would have to pay for ad placements, but did not tell it to the publishers selling the ads. It came down to insider trading, Texas claims, because it could use exclusive information to outperform competitive advertising buying systems and pay publishers less.
An internal presentation from 2013 showed that Project Bernanke would earn $ 230 million that year. Texas sees this as proof that Google is taking advantage of it.
Google acknowledged the existence of Bernanke in the court documents, but said it did nothing wrong. According to the company, the information was “comparable” to what you would find with other tools for advertising purchases. A spokesman told the WSJ that Texas’ complaint “misrepresents” large parts of its advertising business, and that it intends to sue the state in court. This pointed to the determination of a British regulator that there is no benefit.
Whatever the interpretation is, the court version shows how Texas intends to pursue its antitrust case – it is convinced that Google has made behind-the-scenes arrangements, such as a reported “sweetheart deal” with Facebook, for itself. to give an unfair advantage over the competition. The state can have a strong case if the court agrees with the basic premise, but it will be in serious trouble if there is a disagreement.