The US government is targeting Google’s huge fortune — its hugely lucrative advertising technology business.
The trial, which begins Monday, will consider the Justice Department’s case that the search engine’s parent company, Alphabet, illegally monopolizes the market.
Company earned more than 200 billion dollars (£152bn) last year through placing and selling advertising seen by internet users.
Alphabet argues that its success is due to the “efficiency” of its services — but prosecutors say the company has used its dominant market position to stifle rivals.
“This is a really important industry that attracts billions of dollars from consumers every year,” said Laura Phillips-Sawyer, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law.
“I think all consumers are concerned about this litigation.”
This is the second major antitrust lawsuit the tech giant has faced in the United States.
In August, a judge ruled Search dominance is illegalwhile the penalties that Google and Alphabet face as a result of that decision remain unclear.
According to the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) and a coalition of states In 2023, Google dominates the digital advertising market and has used its market power to stifle innovation and competition.
Google, meanwhile, insists it is just one of hundreds of companies that facilitate the placement of digital ads in front of consumers.
The paper argues that competition in the digital advertising space is increasing, not shrinking — citing the revenue and ad growth of companies like Apple, Amazon and TikTok as evidence in a blog post. Responding to the Justice Department’s lawsuit in 2023.
Both sides will present their cases to Federal Court Judge Leonie Brinkema, who is expected to issue a ruling.
The trial comes after a landmark ruling last month in another antitrust case brought by the Justice Department against Google.
Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had acted illegally to suppress competition in the online search business.
“Google is a monopoly and they have acted in this way to maintain their monopoly,” he wrote.
In court last year, Google said it dominated online search because it had a better product.
And the company appears to be deploying a similar defense in the ad tech lawsuit.
When asked for a statement, they pointed to the BBC’s 2023 blog post, which stated that “no one is forced to use our advertising technology – they choose to use it because it works”.
Judge Mehta held a press conference Friday as he began the process of deciding what remedies to seek for Google’s conduct.
“The Justice Department has clearly won a big victory and they will continue that momentum,” Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, told the BBC.
He said he hoped those remedies would include “adjusting the business model rather than breaking up” the company.
Meanwhile, in Judge Brinkema’s courtroom, the arcane process governing advertising technology could make it harder for the Justice Department to prove its case.
“We all use search. We all understand that product visually,” said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust law professor at Vanderbilt University Law School.
By contrast, advertising technology “is so complex that I think it would be a real challenge for the government to make a clear and simple monopoly argument here.”
The United States isn’t the only country where regulators are unhappy with Google’s ad tech business.
On Friday, the UK Competition and Markets Authority said it believes Google is abusing its dominant position in the advertising technology industry, according to findings of the initial investigation.
Google has used anti-competitive practices to dominate the online advertising technology market – and this potentially illegal behaviour could harm thousands of UK publishers and advertisers, the report says.
A Google representative said the decision was based on a “misguided” understanding of the ad tech industry.
