RedPlum sues SmartSource over alleged monopoly

Coming to a courtroom near you: RedPlum vs SmartSource in a $2.24 BILLION lawsuit! Read on for the interesting details about this long-standing feud (and brand new legal action) between the companies who bring us the coupons we love.

This most recent complaint,  filed on Friday, alleges that News America Marketing (publisher of SmartSource) has been monopolizing in-store coupons and advertising opprtunities through questionable methods. Among other things, Valassis (publisher of RedPlum) claims that even when they win the hard to get in-store advertising contracts, News America has refused to remove their advertising and has even removed the Valassis materials instead!

According to the lawsuit, SmartSource and RedPlum used to have about an equal share in the coupon inserts. Now, because of the alleged monopoly, SmartSource has approximately 65% while RedPlum only has 35%.

I will agree that the SmartSource inserts have been consistently bigger than the RedPlum inserts in the last few years. Have you noticed the same thing?