Teads sues Google, says some retired ad tech practices persisted
In an 85-page complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, Teads accuses Google of tying its Google Ads platform to the AdX exchange in a way that cost rival exchanges an estimated 6.88 trillion impressions between 2017 and 2023, though the filing does not disclose how that figure was calculated. The suit also claims Google has added new auction rules that parallel Last Look, the mechanic it says it ended in 2019, and that Google continues to update the bid-rigging scheme once called Project Bernanke, despite having presented its 2019 shift to first-price auctions as creating a fair, transparent market. Teads is seeking treble damages, punitive damages and court-ordered changes to Google's practices, while a Google spokesperson called the allegations "meritless."
Independent SSPs now have five active lawsuits pressing the same claim: that Google's auction mechanics quietly shape where impressions clear and who gets access to demand. Agencies and advertisers buying through AdX, or through the rival exchanges Teads says lost volume, have a direct stake in whether a court orders Google to change its auction rules or the Project Bernanke algorithm, since a forced change would alter bid dynamics across the open web. Teads itself stays tied to Google, having agreed in February to extend its connected TV inventory through Google TV in the U.S. and U.K., even as it warns investors the lawsuit could prove costly and distract management ahead of its Aug. 6 earnings report, with its stock already down nearly 68% year over year.