Ten states, led by Texas, have sued Google over alleged antitrust violations regarding its operation of its advertising arm, claiming that the search engine giant has used its imposing market share to block competition, Reuters reports.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit, joined by nine other states, echoes a lawsuit filed by the federal government in October. The states joining Texas are Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Utah.
“Google repeatedly used its monopolistic power to control pricing (and) engage in market collusions to rig auctions in a tremendous violation of justice,” Paxton said in a video unironically posted on Facebook, a social media site against which Paxton has filed another antitrust lawsuit.