Tag: gannett

US Newspaper Chain Gannett Sues Google, Says Tech Giant Holds Monopoly on Online Ads

Gannett, the largest US newspaper chain, on Tuesday sued Google, accusing the social media company of violating federal antitrust law by trying to monopolize the market for online advertising.

The publisher of USA Today and more than 200 daily newspapers in a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan said media are suffering because Google and its parent Alphabet monopolize tools for buying and selling online ads.

Gannett said this forces publishers to sell more ad space to Google at depressed prices, resulting in “dramatically less revenue for publishers and Google’s ad-tech rivals, while Google enjoys exorbitant monopoly profits.”

Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Gannett is seeking unspecified damages.

It filed its lawsuit five months after the US Department of Justice brought a similar lawsuit against Google over the Mountain View, California-based company’s advertising technology.

On June 14, the European Union filed its own case, and said Google might have to sell some of its advertising technology.

Google generated $224.5 billion (roughly Rs. 18,42,777 crore) of advertising revenue in 2022, accounting for nearly 80 percent of Alphabet’s overall revenue, and posted an overall $60 billion (roughly Rs. 4,92,506 crore) profit.

Advertising allows Google to offer many of its services for free, including email and much of its YouTube video platform.

Google’s first-quarter ad revenue was $54.5 billion (roughly Rs. 4,47,360 crore), little changed from a year earlier.

Like many newspaper publishers, McLean, Virginia-based Gannett has struggled in recent years with falling ad revenue and as more people get their news online.

Gannett said print circulation at its newspapers fell nearly 20 percent in 2020 and in 2021, and that it has shuttered more than 170 publications since 2019, when it merged with GateHouse Media.

According to the lawsuit, online digital advertising in the United States has grown nearly eightfold since 2009 into a $200 billion (roughly Rs. 16,41,689 crore) business, but newspaper ad revenue has fallen nearly 70 percent over that time.

The case is Gannett Co v Google LLC et al, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 23-05177.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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More than 200 Gannett staffers stage one-day strike over wages

More than 200 Gannett staffers are staging a day-long strike on Friday as they demand better wages and benefits — a fresh burst of unrest following recent layoffs at the newspaper giant.

The NewsGuild, which represents staffers at Gannett — which owns USA Today and a slew of local papers such as the Detroit Free Press, the Bergen Record and the Indianapolis Star — said Friday that 14 of the company’s newsrooms, won’t work at all on Friday,

Those include employees from publications in New Jersey, New York, Arizona and California. Workers in Florida, Texas and Ohio, meanwhile, will stage a lunch-time walkout.

A rep for the NewsGuild said the strikes were in response to the company laying off 400 employees and cutting another 400 open positions in August, which represented 3% of staff.” Those cuts were followed by more belt-tightening in October, which included furloughs and cuts to the 401k plan.

Employees walked out Friday after Gannett cut 400 employees and 400 open jobs this year.
AP

“These devastating cuts to local newsrooms come on the heels of Gannett announcing a $100M stock buyback program for shareholders in February, directing critical funding away from local newsrooms and to rich shareholders,” the rep said.

Gannett did not immediately return requests for comment. The company told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, that the strikes won’t interfere with putting out the news to its readers.

“We continue to bargain in good faith to finalize contracts that provide equitable wages and benefits for our valued employees,” the company said.

USA Today-parent Gannett slashed hundreds of jobs and made cuts to employee 401-K plans recently.
Getty Images

The McLean, Va.-based Gannett said in a recent securities filing that as of last December, it employed roughly 4,846 journalists across local papers, USA Today and in its U.K. publications.

On Thursday, the publisher swung to a third-quarter net loss of $54 million, and said it expected to post a loss for the full year. Chief Executive Michael Reed cited inflationary pressures and macroeconomic volatility/

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