Alphabet Investors Get Class Status in Suit Over Google Ads (1)

Alphabet Inc. investors can proceed as a class in a securities suit over its Google subsidiary’s advertising bidding process, a federal court ruled Monday in a procedural setback for the technology giant.

Common, classwide questions about investors’ reliance on Google’s statements—and about damages—predominate over individualized ones, Judge Rita F. Lin said for the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

The grant of class status ramps up the stakes in the suit over allegedly anticompetitive Google practices that led to a nearly €3 billion ($3.5 billion) European Union fine and partially underlay a derivative suit settlement consisting of ...