Advertisers pursue mass claims

Advertisers are preparing mass arbitration claims against Google that could seek billions of dollars after federal courts found the company held illegal monopolies. (claimsjournal.com) Bloomberg, cited by Claims Journal on April 14, said lawyer Ashley Keller has signed up a “significant number” of advertisers and expects the first claims to be filed this week. Keller estimated potential claims tied to search and display advertising could exceed $218 billion. (claimsjournal.com) Mass arbitration means hundreds or thousands of separate claims move through private arbitration at the same time, instead of one class action in court. Claims Journal said Google’s advertiser contracts require mandatory arbitration, which is why advertisers are organizing this way. (claimsjournal.com) The claims build on two federal antitrust losses for Google. A Washington court ruled in August 2024 that Google illegally maintained monopolies in general search and search text advertising, and a Virginia court ruled on April 17, 2025 that Google monopolized key ad technology markets used to buy and sell display ads on the open web. (justice.gov) (stblaw.com) Those ad technology markets are the software pipes behind many banner ads. The Virginia ruling said Google monopolized ad exchanges, where ad auctions run in real time, and publisher ad servers, the tools websites use to manage and sell ad space. (stblaw.com) Private plaintiffs have already been moving after the ad tech ruling. Bloomberg Law reported on February 3 that publishers including Vox, The Atlantic, Business Insider, McClatchy Media, Slate and Advance Publications had sued Google or joined consolidated litigation in New York. (bloomberglaw.com) Google has said it will fight. In a recent corporate filing cited by Claims Journal, the company said it could not estimate a possible loss from private antitrust damage claims and that it had “strong arguments” against the claims and would defend itself vigorously. (claimsjournal.com) Google is also still appealing the search case, and the ad tech case is expected to head into appeal as well. The Justice Department said on September 2, 2025 that the search court had already imposed remedies, including limits on exclusive distribution contracts tied to Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant and the Gemini application. (justice.gov) (claimsjournal.com) The arbitration push could test whether corporate buyers, not just consumers or workers, can use mass filings to force settlements. Claims Journal said the Google matter may be the first mass arbitration aimed at representing corporate plaintiffs, and Keller said similar proceedings often take 12 to 24 months to resolve. (claimsjournal.com)