TradeComet.com LLC, a New York-based company, claimed in federal court on Tuesday that Google Inc. violated antitrust laws by raising a subsidiary’s advertising rates after deciding the subsidiary was a competitor.

In its suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, TradeComet.com claims that Google initially supported SourceTool.com, TradeComet’s subsidiary.  SourceTool.com is a business-to-business search engine that connects suppliers of industrial products to buyers.  Google eventually deemed SourceTool.com a competitior, and according to TradeComet.com, raised its search advertising rates by 10,000 percent “with no notice.”

A Google spokesman said in a statement that, “We have not yet had a chance to review the complaint in detail, but, as we have consistently made clear, the advertising market in which Google operates is highly competitive, and advertisers have a huge range of choices.”

TradeComet.com is represented by the law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP.  Rick Rule, of Cadwalader said in a press release that “We believe this complaint has strong merit and represents a serious antitrust violation.”

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