Teads, an adtech platform that helps web and mobile publishers monetize their digital content, is suing Google, claiming some anti-competitive advertising practices that hampered competition continue to this day.
In an 85-page lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York, Teads claims that when Google tied its Google Ads ad platform to its ad exchange AdX, rival exchanges lost out on about 6.88 trillion impressions between 2017 and 2023. The complaint does not disclose the methodology behind that estimate.
“We believe Google’s practices artificially suppressed fair competition and hindered innovation,” Teads CEO David Kostman told ADWEEK.
The company is suing now with the aim of “recovering lost value and establishing a transparent, fair environment where independent ad tech providers and publishers can thrive,” he added.
Teads did not specify a figure, but its complaint requested “treble damages, punitive damages, and/or restitution in an amount to be determined at trial.”
A Google spokesperson called the allegations “meritless” in a statement to ADWEEK, adding, “Advertisers and publishers have many choices, and when they choose Google’s adtech tools it’s because they are effective, affordable, and easy to use.”
Teads is the fifth supply-side platform (SSP) to sue Google over the last year, joining a roster of litigants that includes Index Exchange, Magnite, OpenX, and PubMatic.
These lawsuits were sparked by an April 2025 landmark federal ruling that determined the tech giant used unlawful, anti-competitive practices to maintain its dominance in the open web advertising market.
