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Texas Court Orders Deposition of Google Executives in Antitrust Case

By  |  June 24, 2024

In a new development in the ongoing antitrust litigation against Google, three senior executives from Alphabet’s Google are scheduled to undergo deposition. This decision follows a ruling by Judge Sean D. Jordan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, who found that these executives possess relevant knowledge pertinent to the case.

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    The executives to be deposed include Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube, a Google subsidiary.

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    According to Bloomberg, the ruling comes after Google sought a protective order to prevent the deposition of these top executives, arguing that it would be unwarranted. However, Judge Jordan denied the motion in part, siding with the coalition of plaintiff states led by Texas. This decision represents a notable victory for Texas and the coalition of 16 other states that have accused Google of monopolistic practices in the digital advertising markets.

    Read more: Antitrust Suit Against Google Returns To Texas

    The lawsuit, initially filed in 2020, alleges that Google has engaged in anticompetitive conduct to dominate the online display advertising sector, thereby stifling competition and harming advertisers, publishers and small businesses. The Texas-led coalition contends that Google’s actions violate antitrust laws and are designed to consolidate its control over the digital advertising ecosystem.

    This case is one of three significant legal challenges against Google’s digital ad practices currently underway in U.S. federal courts. In addition to the Texas-led lawsuit, a separate coordinated legal proceeding in Manhattan involves advertisers, publishers and small businesses pressing similar claims against Google. Furthermore, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit last year in Alexandria, Virginia, also targeting Google’s digital advertising conduct.

    Source: News Bloomberg Law