Google Shares Drop As Daily Mail Files Antitrust Lawsuit

Summary:

Google's push to new all-time highs suffers a setback as the Daily Mail has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the online advertising giant.

The Daily Mail has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging that the company was over-selling online advertising space and thus preventing newspapers from generating revenue from their online content.

The lawsuit goes further to accuse the online advertising giant of exerting control of the tools that are used to mark spaces on web pages where ads can be positioned, and also of unfair control of the tools that are used in sales of online ad inventory and the ad exchanges. The lawsuit says that the monopoly exerted by Google in the online ad space cuts prices and reduces the quality of news content available to readers.

This is yet another lawsuit in the list of growing antitrust lawsuits against the company. An antitrust lawsuit filed against the company by some US states remains pending.

Investors are reacting negatively to the news, with Google shares being placed on offer in the market, leading to a 0.73% drop on the day.

Technical Levels to Watch

Google’s push to renew the all-time highs posted yesterday has met a brick wall, given today’s decline. With price already touching off the price projection from the breakout of the bullish flag on the daily chart, it could be said that price was due for correction having tested the 2300 psychological price level and not being able to break past it.

The corrective move needs to take out the ascending trendline that connects the lows of the last two trading weeks, for the next downside target at 2200 (6 April low) to become achievable. Below this level, the flag’s upper border at 2144.27 (16 February high and 6 April low) becomes a new downside target.

On the other hand, a bounce from the ascending trendline puts the 2300 psychological resistance at risk. A break above this area pushes Google into new record territory, with potential targets at 2390.50 and 2441.14 (88.6% and 100% Fibonacci extensions of the swing move of 18 December 2020 to 16 February 2021.