By Corbin Bolies
Publication Date: 2026-01-13 19:15:00
The Atlantic on Tuesday sued Google and its parent company Alphabet, alleging the tech giant’s model of serving ads to publishers has become a monopoly and that it has falsely claimed its practices would work to the Atlantic’s benefit — only to enrich itself instead.
In a 94-page federal complaint filed in New York’s southern district, the magazine claimed that Google and Alphabet have “unlawfully acquired and maintain monopolies for the advertising technology…tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ad space.” Such control, it claimed, forces publishers to sell ads through Google at lower prices.
“The result is dramatically less revenue for publishers and Google’s ad-tech rivals, while Google reaps exorbitant monopoly profits,” its attorneys wrote.
The publisher accused Google of violating state law and the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act, two federal antitrust laws that prohibit monopolies…
