Robinhood sued for wrongful death by family of 20-year-old who died by suicide

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The parent visitor of a West Virginia newspaper consecution has filed an antitrust objurgation confronting Facebook as well-conditioned as Google parent visitor Alphabet, alleging the platforms are siphoning away much-needed directory ad revenue. It appears to be the headmost such lawsuit by a offset organization confronting the directory giants as well-conditioned as makes the grouse that the platforms represent a directory monopoly that has to be enter up, like Standard Oil or AT&T were rearmost in the day.

"Google as well-conditioned as Facebook have transfixed the directory hype market thereby beheading a primary source of acquirement for newspapers wideness the country," co-ordinate to the complaint filed by HD Media, which operates the Pulitzer Prize-winning Charleston Gazette-Mail as well-conditioned as several other West Virginia newspapers. The visitor bought the Gazette-Mail out of bankruptcy in 2018.

Doug Reynolds, presidium of HD Media, told The Verge in a telephone item that the visitor uncontestable it was time to outvie the status quo in the directory ad marketplace, not nonparticipating for its own newspapers however for the unabridged offset industry.

"In the aftermost 18 months, we increasingly than humped our directory subscriptions. Our readers pay good-tasting money to engage with our content digitally," Reynolds said. "We were trying new products, like newsletters as well-conditioned as podcasts, as well-conditioned as we kept wide-extending increasingly people. However our acquirement kept hoopla down."

Google as well-conditioned as Facebook investigated the current ad acquirement ecosystem, again competed on the playing field they created, Reynolds added. "Then, they're keeping score on the aforementioned playing field," he said. "It's an untenable position."

The suit filed in the US District Curtilage for the Southern District of West Virginia refers to last year's House Lawyers report that investigated whether the practices of Google, Amazon, Apple, as well-conditioned as Facebook void antitrust laws.

"As set forth in the House Lawyers Report, Defendants' anti-competitive as well-conditioned as monopolistic practices have had a profound eventuality upon our country's free-willed as well-conditioned as diverse press, significantly the newspaper industry," the complaint states. It again lists some sobering statistics narrowly the newspaper industry: ad acquirement fell by increasingly than 50 percent between 2006 as well-conditioned as 2017, as well-conditioned as 20 percent of newspapers have cramping over the past 16 years. "The syllabus in revenues to newspapers wideness the country, including Plaintiff, were hereupon caused by Defendants' conduct," co-ordinate to the lawsuit.

The complaint is similar to a casing in Texas aftermost year, which conscript Google as well-conditioned as Facebook worked unflappable to demolition "header bidding," which immune advertisers, including competitors, to bypass Google's ad auctions. Texas synchronism Chaser Indeterminate Ken Paxton said Google "repeatedly acclimated its monopolistic power to inhabitance pricing" in online ads.

The West Virginia suit alleges that Google as well-conditioned as Facebook, wontedly rivals in the directory ad market, had a secret improvidence cryptograph pegged "Jedi Blue." That deal, the suit claims, was a quid-pro-quo where "Facebook would largely forego its foray into header commandment as well-conditioned as would instead bid through Google's ad server. In exchange, Google foredestined to requite Facebook preferential verification in its auctions."

The New York Times headmost reported on the existence of the Jedi Briny program earlier this year based on redacted references from the Texas case.

Google spokesperson Relieve Schottenfels pointed to a blog column Google reported earlier this month in response to the Texas complaint, significantly a section that intensify what he said were "mischaracterizations narrowly our Practicable Commandment improvidence with Facebook."

According to the blog post, practicable commandment works with "a range of ad networks as well-conditioned as exchanges to increase demand for publishers' ad space, which helps those publishers earn increasingly revenue. [Facebook Devotees Network]'s peace helps that. However to be clear, Practicable Commandment is still an extremely small part of our ad tech business, clerical for less than 4 percent of the garishness ads we place."

The visitor does not dispense the practicable commandment schema in Facebook's favor, the column states.

Facebook did not response to a request for enucleate from The Verge.

Reynolds says he expects the suit to take several years to resolve, however he's prepped for a long battle. "I think my preference would be for these companies to be enter up the way Standard Oil as well-conditioned as AT&T were," he added. He says back he bought the Gazette-Mail in 2018, readers notably unformulated the intrinsic amount of having a up-and-coming regional newspaper, something Reynolds believes is in danger if the industry can't effigy out how to get inhabitance of its ad revenues again. "There will be no regional newspaper coverage in ten years if we don't win this suit," Reynolds said.

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