Alphabet, Inc.
Jeremy Lieberman
On June 9, 2023, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California named Pomerantz LLP as Lead Counsel in a proposed securities class action against Alphabet, Inc. The suit alleges that Google and its parent company Alphabet misled investors about the nature of its anticompetitive business practices and the potential of those practices to elicit regulatory scrutiny.
Since its founding in 1998, Google has come to permeate nearly every aspect of modern technological life. Gmail is omnipresent and to “Google” something is a general term meaning “to search the internet.” Pomerantz’s suit alleges that Google used that dominance in the field of internet searches, and its related advertising business, to disadvantage web publishers and advertisers who use competing products. According to the suit, Google knew its revenues were unsustainable insofar as they were based on this illicit, anticompetitive behavior, and that these practices exposed it to potential litigation and regulatory enforcement. However, it disclosed none of this material information to investors.
In January 2023, the United States Department of Justice, along with the Attorneys General of eight states, filed a lawsuit against Google “for monopolizing multiple digital advertising technology products in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman [Antitrust] Act.” On this news, Alphabet’s Class A shares fell 2.09%, to close at $97.70 per share, while their Class C shares fell 1.98%, to close at $99.21 per share on January 24, 2023.
Pomerantz represents Co-Lead Plaintiffs Menora Mivtachim Insurance Ltd., Menora Mivtachim Pensions and Gemel Ltd., The Phoenix Insurance Company, Ltd. and Meitav DS Provident Funds and Pension Ltd. The litigation is on behalf of persons and entities that purchased or acquired Alphabet stock between February 4, 2020 and January 23, 2023.
Pomerantz’s Alphabet litigation is led by partners Jennifer Pafiti, J. Alexander Hood II, and Jeremy A. Lieberman, with attorneys Orly Guy, Eitan Lavie, Dolgora Dorzhieva, and Villi Shteyn.
AMI — Government Employees Provident Fund Management Co. Ltd. v. Alphabet Inc. et al., No. 3:23-cv-01186 (N.D. Cal.)
Class Period: February 4, 2020 - January 23, 2023
Claims: Section 10(b)