Multiple outlets have reported that a state antitrust suit was filed against Google last January, alleging it to have colluded with Facebook in online advertising sales. The Associated Press.
According to documents in the lawsuit, filed last December, it appears that the CEOs at both tech giants had signed an agreement on ad bidding. According to documents, Google secretly refered to the deal as “Jedi Blue” and was approved by the search giant’s CEO Sundar Pichai and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook changed its name to Meta in October 2013.
According to the complaint Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO, believed this to be true. “big deal strategically”In an email dated 2018, Zuckerberg was included. The documents redacted the exec’s names, but their titles were shown.
According to a spokesperson from Google, the lawsuit has been dropped. “full of inaccuracies and lacks legal merit,” while a Facebook rep said the company’s ad bidding agreement with Google increases competition for ad placements. The Google rep also said the lawsuit’s allegation that Pichai approved the deal is not accurate and that the agreement “was never a secret.”
The lawsuit is being led by Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General. He is joined by the attorneys general from Alaska, Arkansas and Florida.