Google’s domination of internet search is a fact of life. What’s less apparent—if you don’t work in publishing or advertising—is Google’s control of internet ad sales. It’s estimated that the company pulls in nearly 30 percent of all digital advertising dollars. The Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging that it “abuses its monopoly power to disadvantage website publishers and advertisers who dare to use competing ad tech products in a search for higher quality, or lower cost, matches.” In the past, the determinant for antitrust laws is whether or not anticompetitive practices have raised prices for consumers; here, publishers and advertisers have been harmed, which has led to a different—but arguably more malicious—impact on the public. Barry Lynn, the executive director of the Open Markets Institute, talks through this landmark case.

Read Lynn’s story from 2020: https://harpers.org/archive/2020/09/the-big-tech-extortion-racket/

Subscribe to Harper’s for only $16.97: harpers.org/save

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit harpersmagazine.substack.com