Frequently Asked Questions

Judge P. Kevin Castel of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is currently overseeing this Lawsuit, known as In re Google Digital Publisher Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:21-cv-7034 (PKC), as part of multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) proceedings, and has determined that the AdX Publisher Class Plaintiffs’ antitrust claims against Google can proceed as a class action. A copy of the Transfer Order from the MDL panel directing the transfer of this Lawsuit to Judge Castel is available on the Documents page of this website here.

The Long Form Notice explains that a Court “certified” a Class consisting of all persons or entities in the United States that directly paid Google, through payment of fees directly to Google or reductions in advertising revenue received directly from Google, for services associated with selling advertising impressions (other than instream video transactions) on websites via Google’s AdX Ad Exchange from December 15, 2016, through March 31, 2024. If this describes you, you may choose to stay in the lawsuit, or exclude yourself from it, prior to April 13, 2026.

If you received a Notice directing you to this website, it is because, according to Google’s records, you may have directly paid Google for AdX auction platform services to assist in the sale of website advertising space at some point between December 15, 2016, and March 31, 2024. As a result, you may be a member of the Class that the Court certified for purposes of this Lawsuit.
 

The AdX Publisher Class Plaintiffs are Genius and The Nation. They allege on behalf of the Class that Google violated the federal antitrust laws by engaging in unlawful anticompetitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the global markets for open-web display ad exchanges and ad servers. The AdX Publisher Class Plaintiffs allege that Google used a scheme of anticompetitive conduct that enabled Google’s AdX auction platform to win more ad impressions at the expense of rival auction platforms, allowing Google to enhance and maintain its monopoly power in the ad exchange auction platform and ad server markets, and permitting Google to charge supracompetitive rates to publishers for use of its AdX auction platform.

A copy of the operative AdX Publisher Class Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Class Action Complaint filed September 29, 2025 (the “Complaint”) is available at the Documents page of this class action website here. AdX Publisher Class Plaintiffs allege in this Lawsuit that Defendants’ conduct violated the antitrust laws, and reduced competition from rival open web display ad auction platforms and ad servers. AdX Publisher Class Plaintiffs further allege that they and the other members of the Class were injured by being overcharged by Google for its AdX ad auction platform services.

The Complaint also asserts claims on behalf of purchasers of AdSense. However, the Court has not certified an AdSense class, and this website does not relate to the claims of AdSense purchasers. The AdX Publisher Class does not seek damages for AdSense purchases.

Google denies these allegations and denies that any Class member was harmed or is entitled to damages or other relief.

No trial has been scheduled or held in this Lawsuit.
 

In a class action, one or more persons or entities called “Class Representatives” sue on behalf of other entities with similar claims. In this case, the Class Representatives are Genius Media Group, Inc. (n/k/a MediaLab AI, Inc.) (“Genius”) and The Nation Company, LLC (“The Nation”). The Court has appointed Genius and The Nation as representatives of the AdX Publisher Class.

The Class Representatives and the group of entities defined by the Court on whose behalf they have sued together constitute the “Class” or “Class Members.” They are also called the “AdX Publisher Class Plaintiffs” or “Plaintiffs.” Their attorneys are called “Plaintiffs’ Counsel,” “AdX Publishers’ Counsel,” “Co-Lead Class Counsel,” or “Class Counsel.” The Court has appointed three law firms, identified below (see Question 11), to represent the interests of the Class in this Lawsuit.

The companies that have been sued are called the “Defendants” or “Google.” In this case, the Defendants are Google LLC, Alphabet Inc., and YouTube LLC.

In a class action lawsuit, one court resolves the issues for everyone in the class, except for those members of the class who exclude themselves (i.e., “opt out”) from the class. The Court, by Order dated December 12, 2025, has determined that the Lawsuit by the AdX Publisher Class Plaintiffs against the Defendants can proceed as a class action. A copy of the Court’s December 12, 2025 Order may be found at the Documents page of this website here.

Specifically, the Court has found that:

• The membership of the Class is sufficiently numerous that joining all Class Members as parties in one suit is impractical.
• Class Members share common legal or factual issues relating to the claims in this case.
• The claims of the Class Representatives are typical of the claims of the rest of the Class. 
• The Class Representatives and the lawyers representing the Class will fairly and adequately protect the Class’s interests.
• Common legal questions and factual issues predominate over any questions or issues affecting only individual Class Members, and this class action will be a more efficient and superior means of adjudicating this dispute than hundreds or thousands of individual lawsuits.
   

The Court found that the questions of law and fact common to the AdX Class include “whether Google imposed unlawful product ties, implemented anticompetitive auction practices on AdX, and caused injury and damages to Publishers.”

In a related lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice and a number of States against Google in the Eastern District of Virginia, a trial was held and the judge determined that Google had violated the antitrust laws in acquiring and maintaining a monopoly in the global markets for ad servers and ad exchanges. See United States v Google LLC, 778 F. Supp. 3d 797 (E.D. Va. 2025) (“U.S. v. Google”). A copy of that court’s written decision is available here. The U.S. v. Google case does not seek damages on behalf of private persons or entities. 
 

Based on the opinion and order following the liability trial in U.S. v. Google, the Court in this Lawsuit has precluded Google from relitigating whether some of the conduct challenged by the Class as anticompetitive in the Complaint in this Lawsuit constituted monopolization in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2, and whether some of the conduct challenged by the Class as anticompetitive in the Complaint in this Lawsuit constituted unlawful tying in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1. Specifically, the Court has held that “Google is precluded from relitigating, inclusive of the balancing of procompetitive benefits and anticompetitive effects, the following findings and conclusions in the E.D. Va. Action: (1) the existence of separate and distinct markets for publisher ad servers and ad exchanges, (2) that the ad server and ad exchange markets are worldwide in scope, excluding countries restricting access to the internet or subject to U.S. sanctions, (3) that Google has engaged in the following anticompetitive conduct which support’s the . . . claim that it willfully acquired and maintained its monopoly power in the ad server and ad exchange markets: Unlawful Tying, First Look, Last Look, Dynamic Revenue Share and Unified Pricing Rules, and (4) that Google has unlawfully tied DoubleClick for Publishers and AdX in violation of section 1 of the Sherman Act.”
 

Other issues remain to be resolved. Thus, the Court has not yet decided whether all the requirements are met for any person or entity to be entitled to a payment of damages in this case. There is no money available now and no guarantee there ever will be. However, if you are a member of the Class described in this Notice, your rights are affected, and you have a choice to make now from the options listed and explained in this Notice.  
 

You are in the Class if you are a person or entity in the United States and its territories that directly paid Google, through payment of fees directly to Google or reductions in advertising revenue received directly from Google, for services associated with selling advertising impressions on websites via Google’s AdX Ad Exchange (“AdX Sales”) from December 15, 2016, through March 31, 2024. The Class’s claims are limited to display advertising impressions, which has been defined by the Court not to include “instream video ad sales.”
 

If you are not sure whether you are included, you may call, email, or write to the lawyers that have been appointed by the Court to represent the Class in this case at the telephone numbers or addresses listed in Question 11 below. If you wish to exclude yourself from the Class, please refer to Question 10.
 

Yes. Entities or persons falling within the Class definition who validly and timely exclude themselves from the Class following the instructions set forth in Question 10 will be excluded from the Class. 

If you do nothing, you will remain in the Class. If you remain in the Class and Plaintiffs obtain money or other value from this Lawsuit - as a result of any ruling, trial, or any Court-approved settlement - you may receive a payment, if you are entitled to one. Keep in mind that if you do nothing now, regardless of whether Plaintiffs win or lose, you will be legally bound by all Court orders and judgments made in this class action and you will not be able to bring a separate lawsuit against any of the Defendants for the same legal claims that are the subject of this Lawsuit. 

If you are still not sure whether you are included in the Class, please review the information on this website or you may call, email, or write to the lawyers that have been appointed by the Court to represent the Class in this case at the telephone numbers or addresses listed in Question 11 below.

If you timely and validly exclude yourself (or “opt-out”) from the Class, you will not receive any distribution that may result from a judgment or settlement favorable to Plaintiffs. If you timely and validly exclude yourself, you will also not be legally bound by the Court’s orders and judgments in this class action. You may sue or continue to sue the Defendants for the same legal claims that are the subject of this Lawsuit, now or in the future. If you choose to pursue your own lawsuit against the Defendants, you may hire a lawyer at your own expense to prove your alleged claims.

If you do not exclude yourself from the Class, you will keep the right to a share of any recovery that may come from a trial or settlement of this Lawsuit. You will not be able to start another lawsuit, continue another lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Defendants about the legal issues in this case. All of the Court’s orders in the case by the AdX Publisher Class Plaintiffs against Defendants will apply to you and legally bind you. You will also be bound by any judgment in the Lawsuit, whether against or in favor of the Defendants.
 

To exclude yourself, you must send a letter to the Notice Administrator requesting exclusion from the In re Google Digital Publisher Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:21-cv-7034 (PKC) class action, with your name, address, telephone number, email address, Google publisher ID (i.e., GFP ID), and signature. You must also identify the email address associated with your Google ad services account or, if applicable, your “GAM” account.
 

Your exclusion request must be received no later than April 13, 2026. Send your exclusion request to the Notice Administrator with a copy to all three of the Class Counsel law firms listed in Question 11 below to arrive on or before April 13, 2026.  The addresses of the three Class Counsel Law Firms are identified in Question 11 below.  The Notice Administrator’s address is:

In re Google Digital Publisher Antitrust Litigation

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

P.O. Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391
 

IF YOU DO NOT EXCLUDE YOURSELF BY THE DEADLINE ABOVE, YOU WILL REMAIN PART OF THE CLASS AND BE BOUND BY THE ORDERS OF THE COURT IN THIS LAWSUIT.
 

The law firms listed below have been appointed by the Court as Co-Lead Class Counsel (or "Class Counsel"). Class Counsel are experienced in handling similar cases against other companies. Class Counsel are:

If you stay in the Class, you do not need to hire your own lawyer to pursue the claims against Google because Class Counsel has been appointed by the Court to act on behalf of the Class. However, if you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Class Counsel will represent your interests in presenting the claims against Google. You will not be personally responsible for Plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees or costs, except to the extent that the Court may approve or award any such fees and costs to Class Counsel to be paid out of the amounts recovered in this Lawsuit, if any. If Class Counsel achieves a recovery for the Class by way of settlement or after winning at trial, the Court will be asked to approve reasonable attorneys’ fees, as well as reimbursement of expenses Class Counsel have advanced on behalf of the Class. If the Court grants Class Counsel’s requests, fees and expenses would be deducted from any money obtained as a result of the trial or settlement.

If the claims against Google are not resolved by a settlement or otherwise, Class Counsel will seek to prove Plaintiffs’ claims at a jury trial. A jury trial has not been scheduled at this time. There is no guarantee that Plaintiffs will win, or that they will recover any money for the Class. Any judgment will be binding on all Class Members who have not opted out, regardless of who wins. 

You do not need to attend the trial unless you receive a valid request (such as a subpoena) to do so. Class Counsel will present the case for Plaintiffs and the Class, and counsel for Defendants will present the defenses. You and/or your own lawyer are welcome to attend the trial at your own expense. If Plaintiffs obtain money or benefits as a result of the trial or settlement, and you have not opted out, you will be notified about how to participate. We do not know how long this process will take.

For more detailed information about this litigation, please review the information and documents on this website. You may also obtain additional information by calling or writing to the Class Counsel as indicated above.
 

PLEASE DO NOT WRITE OR CALL THE COURT OR THE CLERK’S OFFICE FOR INFORMATION.