A West Virginia news publisher has filed an antitrust suit against Google and Facebook, who dominate the online ad market. The company, HD Media, owns several papers in the state, including the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington and the Charleston Gazette-Mail. HD Media filed in federal court in West Virginia and asked for a jury trial. The company does not specify the impact on its business of the behavior of Facebook and Google beyond saying that it has hurt its ability to “effectively monetize its content” because Google is enabled to take an uncompetitive share of its ad revenues. A lawyer for the company declined to speak on the record.
