Mixed moves in ad regulation
A judge dismissed newspaper publishers’ antitrust suit against Google for failing to define a relevant market, while the FTC is said to be in settlement talks with ad companies over alleged coordinated boycotts. The two developments show simultaneous legal setbacks and ongoing regulatory scrutiny in digital advertising. (ppc.land) (alltoc.com)
A federal judge in Washington threw out a newspaper publishers’ antitrust case against Google on March 20, while the Federal Trade Commission is negotiating a possible settlement with major ad firms in a separate boycott probe. (law.justia.com) (finance.yahoo.com) Judge Amit P. Mehta dismissed the case brought by Helena World Chronicle and Emmerich Newspapers, filed as 1:23-cv-03677 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The publishers had accused Google and Alphabet of monopolizing general search services and an “online news” market. (law.justia.com) (ppc.land) Mehta said the plaintiffs lacked antitrust standing on their search-market claims and failed to plead a relevant market or monopoly power in online news. He granted Google’s motion to dismiss the amended complaint in full. (law.justia.com) (ppc.land) The ruling landed less than a year after a different federal court found Google had illegally monopolized parts of the digital advertising technology stack, including publisher ad servers and ad exchanges for open-web display ads. That April 17, 2025 decision is already feeding new private damages suits from companies including Magnite, PubMatic, Raptive and The Atlantic. (ppc.land 1) (ppc.land 2) (ppc.land 3) (ppc.land 4) (ppc.land 5) The Federal Trade Commission matter is about a different part of the ad business: media buying agencies that decide where brand budgets go. In June 2025, the agency said Omnicom’s $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic raised risks of coordination among agencies over steering ad dollars away from publishers based on political or ideological viewpoints. (ftc.gov) The commission finalized that order on September 26, 2025, after public comment, and required safeguards against coordinated refusals to place ads on certain sites unless an individual advertiser specifically directed it. The vote was 2-0-1, with Commissioner Mark R. Meador recused. (ftc.gov) Reuters reported on April 12, 2026 that the Federal Trade Commission is now in talks with Dentsu, Publicis and WPP over a possible settlement tied to alleged coordinated boycotts against platforms including X. Reuters said the Wall Street Journal reported that the firms could agree not to steer budgets away from platforms because of political content, while individual advertisers would still be free to avoid specific sites. (finance.yahoo.com) Google did not escape broader antitrust pressure with the publishers’ loss. The company is still fighting remedies after the 2025 ad tech liability ruling, with the Department of Justice previously seeking structural relief including a divestiture of Google AdX, while Google argued for behavioral fixes instead. (ppc.land 1) (ppc.land 2) The split screen in digital advertising is now plain: one publisher case failed on market-definition and standing rules, while regulators kept pressing agencies over how ad money is coordinated and where it is withheld. (law.justia.com) (ftc.gov)
