Google, Facebook agreed to cooperate against possible antitrust proceedings
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US tech giants Facebook and Alphabet (parent company of Google) agreed back in 2018 to cooperate in case of a possible antitrust investigation into their online advertising activity, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing a lawsuit that contains internal Google's documents.
The media outlet notes, citing an un-redacted version of a lawsuit filed by 10 states against Google last week, that the two companies reached a deal in September 2018, in which Facebook agreed not to compete with Google’s online advertising tools in return for special treatment when it used them.
Last week, 38 attorneys general from different US states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google over its monopoly in the internet search market through anti-competitive contracts and conduct. On December 16, a group of attorneys general, led by Texas filed a separate lawsuit related to Google's dominant position in online advertising. The two lawsuits can be united.
According to the publication, Google and Facebook were aware that their agreement could lead to antitrust investigations and discussed options to deal with them.
The media outlet said, citing documents that the two tech companies agreed to "cooperate and assist each other in responding to any Antitrust Action" and "promptly and fully inform the Other Party of any Governmental Communication Related to the Agreement."
A Google spokesman commented to the newspaper that such agreements are quite common practice. In addition, he noted that Google does not provide Facebook with any privileges and does not provide the company with any data inaccessible to others.
Google has long been denying accusations of monopoly, claiming its activity benefits consumers.
