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 Person v. Google - Does Google have a monopoly over keyword targeted internet advertising?

Person, a 70-year-old attorney and businessperson who lives in New York and is running for Attorney General in the November 2006 election, has sued Google in the U.S. District Court - Southern District of New York. The complaint charges Google with monopolization or attempted monopolization, along with a conspiracy to monopolize under Section 2 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. §2). In his opinion, Google has a monopoly over "keyword targeted internet advertising." He claims that Google has removed a large number of search terms from the bidding process to force small businesses to compete for higher-priced keywords. Small advertisers are being forced out of the AdWords market, which makes advertising more profitable for Google's largest advertisers (the well-known established advertisers with the higher clickthrough rates like eBay).

Prior to using AdWords, every customer must click on a box acknowledging that they agree to the terms and conditions of Defendant's contract. These terms contain a forum selection clause stating that disputes or claims arising out of the contract are to be adjudicated in Santa Clara County, California. The court held the forum selection clause to be valid and transfered the dispute to the Northern District of California at San Jose.

For more information on the lawsuit see: http://www.lawmall.com/google/

 

 

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