Stellman v. Google LLC

Case MDL No. 3010 Document Filed O2/Ol/25 Page lots

UNITED STATES JUDICIAL PANEL || ie

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MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION SA 5 □□

IN RE: GOOGLE DIGITAL ADVERTISING

ANTITRUST LITIGATION MDL No. 3010

TRANSFER ORDER

Before the Panel: Plaintiff in the action listed on Schedule A (Ste//man) moves under

Panel Rule 7.1 to vacate our order conditionally transferring the action to MDL No. 3010.

Defendants Google LLC and Alphabet, Inc. (together, “Google”) oppose the motion and support

transfer.

After considering the argument of counsel, we find that Ste//man involves common

questions of fact with the actions transferred to MDL No. 3010, and that transfer under 28 U.S.C.

§ 1407 will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient

conduct of the litigation. In our order establishing MDL No. 3010, we explained that “[t]he actions

concern Google’s alleged monopolization and suppression of competition in online display

advertising” — an industry that involves high-speed electronic trading venues called “exchanges”

that advertisers and online publishers use to manage the buying and selling of ad space on web

sites and mobile apps. See /n re Digital Advertising Antitrust Litig., 555 F. Supp. 3d 1372, 1373

(J.P.M.L. 2021). We observed that the actions commonly alleged that Google runs the largest

ad exchange (“AdX”) and has engaged in numerous kinds of unlawful acts to suppress

competition, causing injuries to advertisers and publishers that participate in its exchange by

imposing supracompetitive pricing and depriving them of revenue. See id. at 1373-74. Like the

actions centralized in the MDL, plaintiff Stellman alleges that Google dominates the display

advertising market and engages in deceptive and unfair practices in the operation of its ad

exchange, causing advertisers to pay higher prices. Sfellman focuses on an alleged auction-

manipulation program known as Reserve Price Optimization (“RPO”), alleging that, through RPO,

Google overrode and increased the bidding floors set by publishers on AdX, and thereby

deceptively increased the price advertisers paid for ad space on publisher websites. In the MDL,

plaintiffs in the State of Texas and the advertiser actions make the same allegations about RPO.

In opposition to transfer, plaintiff principally argues that (1) he does not assert any antitrust

claims — only consumer protection claims — and thus his action is beyond the scope of the MDL;

and (2) transfer to the MDL would be inefficient because the transferee court already has ruled on

the RPO allegations in ruling on defendant’s motion to dismiss the state plaintiffs’ complaint (State

of Texas). We find these arguments unpersuasive. It is well-established that “[t]ransfer does not

require a complete identity of factual issues, and the presence of additional facts or differing legal

theories is not significant when . . . the actions arise from a common factual core.” See Jn re Auto

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Body Shop Antitrust Litig., 37 F. Supp. 3d 1388, 1390 (J.P.M.L. 2014). Thus, plaintiffs assertion

of consumer protection instead of antitrust claims does not prevent transfer. Additionally, the

transferee court’s decision on the RPO allegations in the State of Texas action supports, rather than

weakens, the case for transfer. The ruling underscores that the scope of the MDL includes RPO-

based allegations and Ste//man will benefit from the transferee court’s familiarity with these

claims.' Moreover, plaintiff Stellman is in error in suggesting that the RPO allegations are no

longer at issue in the MDL. The private plaintiffs in the MDL have recently filed amended

complaints asserting RPO-based claims. Thus, inclusion of Ste//man in the MDL for coordinated

proceedings on the RPO allegations will serve the efficient conduct of the litigation.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the action listed on Schedule A is transferred to the

Southern District of New York and, with the consent of that court, assigned to the Honorable

P. Kevin Castel for inclusion in the coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings.

PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION

fa Caldwell

Chair

Nathaniel M. Gorton Matthew F. Kennelly

David C. Norton Roger T. Benitez

Dale A. Kimball Madeline Cox Arleo

A CERTIFIED COPY

RUBY‘J. KRAJICK, CLERK

BY LYE ee Ff aid a

Deputy Clerk

' See In re Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litig.,, No. 21-md-3010, __ F. Supp. 3d □□

2022 WL 4226932, at *30-32 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 13, 2022).

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IN RE: GOOGLE DIGITAL ADVERTISING

ANTITRUST LITIGATION MDL No. 3010

SCHEDULE A

Northern District of California

STELLMAN v. GOOGLE LLC, ET AL., C.A. No. 5:22-05273