Magnite is making good on its threat.
On the company’s Q2 earnings call last month, CEO Michael Barrett alluded to possibly suing Google for antitrust damages. “While the court’s findings are focused on equitable remedies going forward,” Barrett said, “any civil damages that we could potentially realize would require us to file a separate action, which we believe has significant merit.”
That separate action has now occurred. Magnite has officially filed a lawsuit against Google “seeking financial damages and other remedies.” The case stems from the April ruling by a U.S. district court that found Google acted monopolistically in the ad exchange and ad server markets.
Why This Matters:
There’s a clear pattern emerging of SSPs going after Google in the wake of the April ruling. OpenX, PubMatic, and now Magnite have all filed lawsuits. Publishers—including Dotdash Meredith—are also piling on, with that list growing by the day.
Experts React:
Barrett said the following in Magnite’s press release about the action:
“For years, Google undermined our ability to execute on this mission with practices that favored its own business over the health of the open web, causing harm to publishers, advertisers, and partners like us. We look forward to a future that promotes healthy competition, ongoing innovation, and value creation for the ecosystem as a whole.”
Additionally, here are some notable posts on X about the lawsuit:
Our Take:
Over the last year, many expected DSPs (think TTD) to position themselves more aggressively against Google given the regulatory climate. Instead, it’s the sell-side adtech players—emboldened by the April ruling—that have become Google’s most vocal “opps,” as the kids would say. More lawsuits are almost certain. At this point, it makes little sense for SSPs not to sue, and each new filing only ratchets up the pressure to do so.
