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DOCUMENTS OF THE GOOGLE-FACEBOOK LAWSUIT.
What you need to know
Google was worried about the threat posed by Facebook’s foray into "header bidding," a method developed by independent ad tech players to democratize ad slot filling, and sought a partnership to dissuade the social media giant from becoming a competitor.
Then-Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg personally followed up about the 2018 agreement, internally known as “Jedi Blue,” with CEO Mark Zuckerberg via email seeking his approval.
The plaintiffs described the deal as an "illegal price-fixing agreement," accusing Google of eliminating competition.
Google apparently profited after overcharging advertisers through its AdX platform, says the state-led lawsuit, which was filed in December.
Google allegedly exploited bidding data acquired from outside advertisers to enhance its own ad system as part of the “Project Bernake” program.
Google’s ad platform was under criticism earlier today, after accidentally approving and promoting a scam website meant to steal users' funds when people searched for “Target gift card balance
