States file antitrust lawsuit against Google

Google is facing a new antitrust lawsuit from a group of state attorneys general led by Texas, this time targeting its advertising technology services.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Wednesday that his state is spearheading a new antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of "illegally" abusing its market power to pocket money from publishers across the web. Paxton is joined by other Republican state AGs from Idaho, Indiana, Utah, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and North and South Dakota.

"Never before have so many states and the federal government come together to challenge a company with such power," Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said in a statement Thursday. "Google has more data on consumers, and more variety of information, than perhaps any entity in history."

The lawsuit from the coalition of states comes two months after the Justice Department filed its own antitrust suit against Google. The DOJ's effort is focused on "anticompetitive and exclusionary practices" in the company's search and advertising business.

Google isn't alone in its troubles. Last week, the federal government and states sued Facebook for violating antitrust law by crushing competition through acquisitions. They called for Facebook to divest ownership of Instagram and WhatsApp. Apple and Amazon are also under investigation.

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