A federal judge has determined that Google unlawfully controls two key segments of the digital advertising technology market, dealing a major antitrust blow to the tech powerhouse — one that could lead to a dramatic restructuring of its digital ad business.
Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled on Thursday that Google’s grip on the publisher ad server space and the ad exchange platform — which links advertisers to publishers — breaches federal antitrust law under the Sherman Act.
“Google further entrenched its monopoly power by imposing anticompetitive practices on its customers and eliminating desirable product features,” Brinkema wrote.
She went on to say, “In addition to depriving rivals of the ability to compete, this exclusionary conduct substantially harmed Google’s publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web.”
Following the decision, Alphabet — Google’s parent company — saw its shares dip 1.2%, trading at $153.64 on Thursday.
Antitrust expert Mike Davis, who serves as an adviser to President Trump and leads the Internet Accountability Project, said this ruling puts a breakup of Google’s ad business firmly on the table.
The Justice Department has pushed for the court to mandate that Google divest some of its digital advertising operations, particularly Google Ad Manager, which encompasses both its ad-serving tools and its ad exchange platform.
“Google made its trillions by monopolizing the online advertising market, then Google uses its market power to crush competition, shutter small businesses and cancel conservatives,” Davis said. “That’s coming to an end.”
Danielle Coffey, president and CEO of the News/Media Alliance — a nonprofit representing over 2,200 publishers including The Post — called the ruling a major milestone for digital media.
“The news media industry hails the court’s decision to again hold Google accountable for decades of abuse of its market power,” Coffey said. “Google’s monopolistic tactics—this time in the advertising market—have starved content creators of the revenues they deserve and need to sustain quality journalism.”
However, Judge Brinkema ruled that the DOJ didn’t provide enough evidence to show that Google monopolizes a third area — the advertiser ad network market. That portion of the case was dismissed after the three-week bench trial, which began in 2023 and was backed by a group of U.S. states.
In response, Google declared a partial win and said it would challenge the judge’s findings on the other fronts.
“We won half of this case and we will appeal the other half,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, in a statement.
“We disagree with the Court’s decision regarding our publisher tools. Publishers have many options and they choose Google because our ad tech tools are simple, affordable and effective,” Mulholland added.
Advocacy groups that monitor tech companies praised the ruling, calling it a breakthrough for accountability in the digital advertising industry.
“This ruling is an unequivocal win for the American people that will help lower prices, increase competition, and lead to a better internet for everyone,” said Sacha Howarth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project.
Government lawyers argued throughout the trial that Google has misused its dominant position to harm both publishers and advertisers, with some experts saying the company collects up to 35% of every dollar spent on ads through its platform.
Evidence presented included a statement from a Google executive back in 2009 who said the company’s aim in digital advertising was to “crush” its competition.
Google’s legal team countered by claiming that the DOJ’s case was based on a dated understanding of the internet and cautioned that federal intervention might produce unintended negative consequences.
Judge Brinkema noted that a second trial would be needed to decide on the best course of action to dismantle Google’s hold on the digital ad sector.
This isn’t the only courtroom setback for Google. In a different case last year, a judge found the company illegally monopolized the online search engine space.
That case is moving into its remedies phase starting Monday, where the government is expected to ask for measures that could include divesting the Chrome web browser.
{Matzav.com}