Publishers can seek $3.2 bn from Google in ad tech case

USA Today Co., Daily Mail General and Trust Plc and a class of roughly 5,000 publishers can seek more than $3.2 bn in damages from Alphabet Inc.’s Google over alleged harm from its conduct in advertising technology markets, a New York federal judge ruled, according to Bloomderg.

US District Judge P. Kevin Castel in Manhattan said jury trials can proceed on claims involving Google’s AdX advertising exchange. In an opinion issued Sept. 30, Castel rejected Google’s effort to challenge damage calculations presented by the publishers.

The publisher class will be allowed to pursue about $1.7 bn in damages. USA Today, which brought a separate case, can seek roughly $900 mn, while Daily Mail can pursue about $600 mn.

Google said the ruling also dismissed claims brought by some publishers that used a different advertising-buying tool. The company said it will defend the remaining claims in court.

Polly Grunfeld Sack, chief legal counsel at USA Today Co., said the ruling…