At Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, Blumenthal Presses Google on Anticompetitive Tactics in Online Advertising That Siphon Money Away From Local Newsrooms

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – At a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights hearing today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) pressed Google’s President of Global Partnerships and Corporate Development Don Harrison on how his company’s online advertising tactics have harmed local newsrooms, in Connecticut and across the country.

Newspapers like the Hartford Courant and the New Haven Register pay Google to sell advertisements on their websites, which allows Google to collect data on their readers. Google is then able sell that data to advertisers who use it to target consumers on other platforms, instead of putting the money back into the news organizations.

“Local newspapers like the Hartford Courant and the New Haven Register hire Google to sell their ad space, so they can make their payrolls, employ people locally, provide news to people like me, and provide their communities with a real public service. To sell those ads, Google collects sensitive commercial information about those newspapers and their readers,” Blumenthal began, describing the basic business relationship between Google and local news organizations.

Blumenthal noted the inherent conflict of interest: “You don’t just represent the newspapers in the transaction, but many times the advertisers as well. You run and control the exchanges where the actual transaction happens. You are able to use that information you have on all the parties to extract massive possible value for Google, which is why you are so immensely profitable. So let me begin by asking you: does Google firewall the Courant, the Register and other publishers’ data from the rest of its clients and operation?”

After Harrison failed to provide a response, Blumenthal interrupted: “Let answer the question for you. The answer is, no. Google tags the Courant and the Register readers and allows advertisers to target them elsewhere. Google says if you don’t want to pay fair prices, I’ll help you target their readers still. That’s, in my view, a breach of trust. That money should be going to the newsrooms not to Google. Do you disagree with me?”

Blumenthal concluded: “You’re using their data for your benefit, not for theirs or for their readers, and you are driving them out of business. Maybe not financially out of business, but you are engaging in conduct that cuts their payrolls. There are fewer employees at those newspapers nationwide, not just the Courant and the Register. Go down the list in Connecticut and around the country. It is used to your benefit not for the benefit of the people who own that data.”

Blumenthal’s first round of questions and answers is available for download here.

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