Meta and Google chiefs aware of deal to manipulate ad sales, newly published documents say
Zuckerberg and Pichai were involved in anticompetitive practices, lawsuit claims
The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, and Google chief, Sundar Pichai, were both aware of a deal between their companies to manipulate online advertising, according to documents recently made public to support a lawsuit.
The lawsuit, brought by several US states in December, alleges Google's charged advertisers higher prices for online ads than it told publishers, using the difference to manipulate future ad auctions and suppress the competition.
The documents, seen by the WSJ, were previously redacted, but have since been made public after a court order.
According to the WSJ, Google made a deal with Facebook to ensure it would win a certain proportion of ads in the auction process.
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO, is reported as saying, "this is a big deal strategically", in a 2018 email exchange whose recipients included Zuckerberg.
Once the deal had been done, Zuckerberg was emailed directly, the plaintiffs allege.
Facebook, now Meta, does not deny that a deal took place, but denied it was underhand or out of the ordinary, adding that similar arrangements have been made with other platforms.
"These business relationships enable Meta to deliver more value to advertisers while fairly compensating publishers, resulting in better outcomes for all", Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro said.
A Google spokesperson dismissed the case as being "without merit", and the company denied that Pichai was personally involved in ad pricing or the deal with Facebook.
"We sign hundreds of agreements every year that don't require CEO approval, and this was no different," a spokesperson said.
The two companies are embroiled in multiple antitrust lawsuits on several fronts.
In November, the EU dissmissed an appeal by Google against a €2.4 billion fine against the company for breaking competition rules, and the US Department of Justice is suing parent company Alphabet, claiming Google's advertising business abuses its dominance.
In the UK the CMA has launched a competition investigation into mobile ecosystems, including Google's Android. The company is also accused of paying Apple to keep it away from the online search market.
Meta is facing a court case from the US Federal Trade Commission, which says that Facebook has unfairly stifled competition by buying up rivals, including WhatsApp and Instagram. The regulator is seeking to break up the company.