Google Asks Texas Court To Transfer Multi-State AG Lawsuit To California

Google has asked a U.S. judge in Texas for a change of venue regarding an antitrust lawsuit filed by 10 attorneys general, Reuters reported Wednesday (Jan. 20).

The Silicon Valley search giant maintains that California will have more witnesses and documents pursuant to the case, according to Reuters. Texas and nine other states filed a lawsuit in Sherman, Texas, alleging that Google unfairly collaborated with Facebook to advance its digital ad business.

Google said in a court filing, per Reuters, that a total of six cases alleging antitrust practices were filed against it in the Northern District of California. Further, the filing stated that the AGs’ lawsuit “does not identify a single company or person who might be a witness at trial and lives or works within 100 miles” of the Texas courthouse where the case was filed.

“As internal Google documents reveal, Google sought to kill competition and has done so through an array of exclusionary tactics, including an unlawful agreement with Facebook, its largest potential competitive threat,” the lawsuit said, per Reuters.

Google has been hit with multiple lawsuits since October, not only by U.S. states, but also by the Department of Justice (DOJ), including the Texas lawsuit. In December, a separate group of 38 U.S. states and territories filed their own lawsuit against Google.

In December, California said it wanted to join the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Google. The DOJ and 11 GOP state attorneys general filed an antitrust suit in Washington D.C., on Oct. 20. California would be the first Democrat-led state to join the suit.

California State Attorney General Xavier Becerra said at the time that Google’s market dominance “leaves consumers and small businesses with little choice when it comes to internet search engines.”

“This lawsuit paves the way for search engine innovation with greater regard for privacy and data protection,” he said.