Good morning, folks.

1. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a heavily anticipated antitrust case on Tuesday morning accusing Google of having an unfair advantage in search and online advertising. The case alleges that Google disadvantaged competitors through a network of exclusionary business deals. It’s the largest legal challenge Google has faced and is likely to result in a court fight that could last years. “Google is a monopoly under traditional antitrust principles and must be stopped,” Associate Deputy Attorney General Ryan Shores said. “We are asking the court to break Google’s grip on search.”

2. Google is already entering a battle stance. “Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed,” Google Public Policy tweeted. “People use Google because they choose to – not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.” The tech giant is expected to argue that it faces significant competition, despite the fact that very few other companies control products related to every part of the ad buying process.

3. A decision to allow an extra 500 people to attend the Cox Plate racing carnival this weekend in Victoria was swiftly reversed after everyone responded exactly as you’d expect they would. Turns out after suffering months of hard lockdown, Victorians were none too pleased about the first major relaxation being made for horse owners in particular.

4. Some COVID-19 figures for you. This morning, Victoria recorded 3 new cases and zero deaths. The rolling 14-day average for metropolitan Melbourne sits at 6.4. NSW recorded two new locally acquired COVID-19 cases and three cases in hotel quarantine.

5. Zip will now be accepted everywhere Visa is, as part of a new licensing deal with the payment giant. Zip users will be able to tap and go using their phones to pay for purchases, rather than having to scan QR codes, thanks to integration of a digital card with wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. This is a big step, given that the current in-store process for buy now pay later apps is usually pretty clunky.

6. Also in BNPL: Westpac has signed a new deal to offer its banking product to Afterpay customers, directly via the platform. Users will have access to savings and transactions accounts to offer “cashflow management in a simple way,” Afterpay CEO Anthony Eisen said. Westpac also owns a stake in Zip. Afterpay cracked $100 a share for the first time on the back of the news.

7. Australian plant-based meat company v2food has nabbed $77 million in Series B funding. This takes the company’s total funding so far to $113 million. The funds will be used to grow the company’s staff, complete its production facility in Wodonga and expand to new markets.

8. New research about the habits of online drug dealers in Australia and abroad shows that technologies like cryptocurrencies and encrypted messaging apps have supercharged the industry. Dealers, speaking anonymously, told researchers from the Australian Institute of Criminology that selling drugs online is both more lucrative and less risky. They even reported a kind of ‘gentrification’ of the industry, with the relatively hands-off nature of online dealing meaning people can avoid some of the more unsavoury aspects of the trade.

9. Research commissioned by Aldi found that 75.4% of Australians are spending more on groceries in 2020. A higher proportion of Tasmanians are spending more on their groceries (81%) followed by Western Australians and Northern Territorians (both at 80%). Retail expert Gary Mortimer linked the increase to more Aussies cooking at home during the pandemic.

10. Ireland is the latest country to impose another strict coronavirus lockdown. Non-essential retailers will shut and people will be asked to remain at home whenever possible for two weeks. The government estimates about 150,000 people will lose their job in the coming days. “If we pull together over the next six weeks we will have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas in a meaningful way,” said Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

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This is a killer.

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