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Australian Publishers Sue Google Over Alleged Adtech Market Power Abuse

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Australian Publishers Sue Google Over Adtech Market Power Abuse

Business Honor
26 June, 2025

Google faces lawsuit in Australia over dominating adtech platforms and harming publisher revenues.

Two independent Australian publishers have launched a major legal challenge against Google accusing the tech giant of misusing its dominance in the digital advertising technology (adtech) market. The class action filed by law firm Piper Alderman claims that Google’s control over key adtech platforms has cost local publishers millions in lost revenue.

Google's ad products that include Ad Manager, AdSense, AdMob and DoubleClick which are used to purchase and sell internet advertising are the focus of the complaint. The publishers contend that Google has been able to restrict competition and grab a larger than appropriate portion of ad income because of its dominant position. As a result, they say smaller publishers earned far less than they would have in a fairer market.

QNews is an LGBTQI-focused publication based in Brisbane and Sydney Times Media a lifestyle site are leading the action. They’re supported by UK-based litigation funder Woodsford and the case is open to all Australian publishers who sold ads through Google between December 2018 and December 2024.

This is the first class action of its kind against Google in Australia, but it echoes similar legal challenges overseas. Regulators and courts in the US, UK, France and Canada are also examining whether Google’s adtech practices break competition laws. Google was fined €220 million in France in 2021 for abusing its dominance in the adtech industry.

Lawyers involved say this case is about restoring fairness to Australia’s digital ad market and compensating publishers who’ve lost out. If successful the lawsuit could have major implications for how digital ads are sold and who profits from them in the future.