On 16th Dec 2020, Texas Attorney General filed anti-trust law suit against Google. The key point is Google’s collusion with Facebook in a deal that manipulates auctions for online advertising. The allegation has been denied by Google, and Facebook has refrained from commenting.

As we are aware, the system of programmatic buying uses automated ad technology. It is called header bidding which routes digital ads into a live auction. As the bids go up from an array of sources, the rates go up. Till recently the header bidding from smaller advertising technology companies posed a threat to Google’s ad exchange. It opened the bidding process to other exchanges. Therefore, Google created a programme to ‘let its own exchange’ win the bid .

Facebook too used header bidding since 2017. In 2018, it was introduced in mobile apps.

This allowed Facebook to take a portion of ads across the internet and mobile phones. Facebook was in direct competition with Google. Facebook, however, ceased the practice. According to the Texas suit it made a deal with Google to let Facebook sell ads on mobile apps, and provide it with advantages in ad auctions.