Exposed: Google’s power over online ads

GOOGLE’S powerful stranglehold over online advertising has been revealed in new court documents.

Legal papers in the US claim the internet giant takes a huge cut of up to 42 per cent of the advertising spending it arranges. That is up to four times more than the cut its rivals take, the papers allege.

The figures were contained in a newly unsealed legal filing at a New York federal court.

One Google employee compared the company’s dominance to a major bank such as Goldman Sachs or Citibank owning the entire New York Stock Exchange.

Google is being sued in the US by the attorney generals of 16 states and a string of businesses for allegedly using underhand tactics to dominate the advertising market.

The internet giant generates billions of dollars by using its advertising ‘exchange’ to allow businesses to buy advertising space on its search results and other websites.

The group suing Google claims the company takes a cut of between 22 per cent and 42 per cent of these deals. And they say Google tries to