Marketing expert speaks out as federal government sues Google

PHOENIX - The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit on Oct. 20 against Google, alleging that the tech giant has been abusing its online dominance in online search to stifle competition and harm consumers, according to reports by the Associated Press.

The case, according to an Associated Press report, alleges that Google has been abusing its dominance in online search to stifle competition and harm consumers. Court records indicate that 11 states will join the federal government in the lawsuit.

In response, officials with Google called the lawsuit "deeply flawed," saying, in part:

"This lawsuit would do nothing to help consumers. To the contrary, it would artificially prop up lower-quality search alternatives, raise phone prices, and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use."

Local reaction to lawsuit

As news of the lawsuit spreads, Arizonans are speaking out about it.

"It's like you don't exist," said Mark Stewart with the digital marketing agency Concept2Completion. "If you don’t pop up on Google, you’re lost."

Stewart's company helps launch businesses online, and quite simply, that means Google.

"My clients absolutely need google to exist," said Stewart.

In May, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech company of violating the state's consumer protection laws.

"This is just another piece of the puzzle," said Brnovich. "When Google collects all this information to sell you stuff and manipulate you, they don’t tell you this stuff and make it almost impossible to opt out."

Brnovich believes other states will file separately from the federal government's lawsuit.

"I have a healthy skepticism as to what goes on in Washington D.C., and we don’t know what’s going to happen in this presidential election, so I don’t want to tie ourselves to what the federal government is doing," said Brnovich.

The Associated Press (AP) contributed to this report.