Teads Holding Co. has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google LLC and Alphabet Inc., alleging that Google’s advertising practices deprived the company of 6.88 trillion ad impressions between 2017 and 2023.

Filed on August 3, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the 85-page complaint seeks treble damages and injunctive relief. The case has been docketed as No. 1:26-cv-06591.

According to Teads, Google illegally forced advertisers to use its AdX exchange by restricting access to Google Ads buyers, preventing rival ad exchanges from competing fairly.

“We believe Google’s practices artificially suppressed fair competition and hindered innovation,” Teads CEO David Kostman told Adweek. He said the lawsuit seeks to recover lost value while helping establish “a transparent, fair environment where independent ad tech providers and publishers can thrive.”

The lawsuit follows a landmark ruling delivered on April 17, 2025, by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In that decision, Judge Leonie Brinkema found that Google had monopolised the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising and had unlawfully tied the two businesses together.

The ruling significantly strengthens Teads’ case because it removes the need to prove Google’s liability again. Instead, the company must focus on demonstrating the damages it suffered.

Teads is not the only company pursuing legal action. OpenX, PubMatic and Magnite have also filed antitrust lawsuits against Google following the Virginia ruling. Thomas Höppner, a partner at Geradin Partners, told Reuters, “I think this will trigger a new wave of lawsuits.”

Google is also facing mounting regulatory pressure outside the United States. Last week, the European Commission fined the company more than $1 billion over related advertising technology practices. In November 2025, a Berlin court awarded €465 million in damages against Google, the largest antitrust damages ruling ever issued by a German court. Private claims across Europe are also estimated to total as much as $10 billion.

The latest lawsuit adds to growing legal challenges against Google’s advertising business, which has shaped the global digital advertising ecosystem for nearly two decades.

Teads’ complaint contains seven counts, including two allegations of monopolisation under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The company has also requested a jury trial.

The case could have implications beyond the United States, particularly for markets such as Nigeria, where digital advertising relies heavily on Google’s ecosystem, including Google Ads, Display & Video 360, Google Ad Manager and AdX.

At the heart of Teads’ complaint is the allegation that Google restricted advertiser demand to AdX, limiting competition from rival ad exchanges. If those practices inflated advertising costs, as the Virginia court previously found, advertisers in markets that depend heavily on Google’s advertising infrastructure may have paid more than they would have in a competitive marketplace.

Industry observers also note that the wave of antitrust litigation could reshape the digital advertising ecosystem by creating a more open and competitive marketplace for ad exchanges. For Nigerian media agencies and digital marketers, such a shift could create new opportunities while increasing the need for expertise across a broader range of advertising platforms.

As legal challenges continue to mount across multiple jurisdictions, the outcome of the Teads case is expected to be closely watched by advertisers, publishers and technology companies worldwide.

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