Colorado Joins 38-State Lawsuit Against Google Alleging Monopoly

DENVER (CBS4) -- Colorado is joining 37 other states in accusing Google of unfairly and illegally monopolizing the search engine market. Colorado Attorney General on Thursday announced the filing of the federal lawsuit earlier Thursday in Washington D.C.

The new complaint accompanies a similar lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and 10 states that was filed October 20th against the internet giant for allegedly violating antitrust laws, and follows another filed  Wednesday by 10 states accusing Google of "anti-competitive conduct" in the online advertising industry.

"Consumers are denied the benefits of competition, including the possibility of higher quality services and better privacy protections. Advertisers are harmed through lower quality and higher prices that are, in turn, passed along to consumers," Colorado AG Phil Weiser said in press release.

The lawsuit was joined by the attorneys general of dozens of states including Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico.

The case is the third antitrust salvo to slam Google during the past two months as the Department of Justice and attorneys general from across the U.S. weigh in with their different variations on how they believe the company is abusing its immense power to do bad things that harm other businesses, innovation and even consumers who find its services to be indispensable.

Google did not respond to a request for comment regarding the two most recent filings, but had earlier called the Justice Department's October filing "deeply flawed."

In that earlier rebuttal, Google Senior Vice President of Global Affairs Kent Walker wrote, "People use Google because they choose to, not because they're forced to, or because they can't find alternatives. This lawsuit would do nothing to help consumers."

"Today, you can easily download your choice of apps or change your default settings in a matter of seconds," Google's Walker continued. "This lawsuit claims that Americans aren't sophisticated enough to do this. But we know that's not true."

According to Thursday's announcement, the 38 states seek to untangled Google from what they claim to be unfairly prominent position over its competition.

"Google's acquisition and command of vast amounts of data obtained because of consumers' lack of choice has fortified Google's monopolies and created new barriers to competition and consumer value," stated Weiser's press release. "The coalition of states ask the court to halt Google's illegal conduct and restore a competitive marketplace. The states also seek to unwind any advantages that Google gained as a result of its anticompetitive conduct, including divestiture of assets as appropriate."

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)