Chegg, an education technology company, has initiated legal action against Google, alleging that Google’s AI-generated summaries of search results have negatively impacted Chegg’s website traffic and revenue.
The lawsuit, submitted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, accuses Google of engaging in unfair competition practices, including reciprocal dealing, maintaining monopolistic control, and unjust enrichment. Chegg argues that Google mandates companies to provide their content to be included in Google Search, thus unfairly using its monopoly in search to benefit from third-party intellectual property.
Chegg seeks compensatory damages and additional remedies, alongside an injunction to halt Google’s purported “unlawful and unfair” practices.
Chegg is among several publishers expressing concern over Google’s attempts to enhance Google Search with AI functionalities. Various news outlets have reported a decline in traffic attributed to Google’s AI summaries, which synthesize information from web sources to respond to user queries.
Attempts have been made to contact Google for comment, and updates will be provided if a response is received.
