Person v. Google Dismissed (Again)–This Time With Prejudice

June 29, 2007 · by · in Search Engines

By Eric Goldman

Person v. Google, Inc., 2007 WL 1831111 (N.D. Cal. June 25, 2007)

You may recall my previous coverage on this case. Person is a lawyer and a former candidate for NY Attorney General. He sued Google for antitrust violations based on its AdWords practices. The first court rejected his suit for improper venue. Person tried again in Google’s home court, and Judge Fogel dismissed the lawsuit a second time (with leave to amend) in March. Person didn’t give up, but this time Judge Fogel closed the door for good, dismissing the lawsuit a third time–this time with prejudice–because Person didn’t cure the defects with his allegations of the relevant market. So this lawsuit should be over unless Person decides to take it to the Ninth Circuit.

While this particular lawsuit was misguided from inception, I doubt this is the last time Google will face antitrust challenges–especially given its ever-growing share of the search market.