The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is preparing to close its case in the Antitrust lawsuit against Googleafter two eventful weeks in court.
The tech giant is accused of engaging in monopolistic behavior by strategically acquiring certain companies and controlling the most widely used tools and exchanges in the ad tech industry. The lawsuit was Introduced in 2023 by the Department of Justice and a coalition of eight states seeking to “restore competition” on the web.
The trial It started on September 9th and the Justice Department has been laying out its case that Google has attempted to monopolize control of the ad network, server and exchange, starting with the acquisition of the advertising company. Double click in 2008.
Government lawyers argued that the move made Google’s ad server the default option and left publishers with few alternatives. By integrating its server and ad exchange, Google has an unfair advantage in ad auctions, manipulating auction rules and driving up costs, the Justice Department alleged. Advertisers who spoke out — including Gannett, NewsCorp, Index Exchange, The Trade Desk, Scope3 and others — backed up those allegations, saying they felt trapped by Google’s tactics while also feeling forced to use the company’s products to remain competitive.
Notably, the Justice Department obtained numerous seemingly damning internal Google emails and presentations suggesting the company was fully aware of the advantage it would gain through DoubleClick's data theft and how it would affect its competitors.
For example, in 2009, former Google president of global display advertising, David Rosenblatt, he said in an email that Google’s control over the advertising market would be akin to owning both Goldman Sachs and the New York Stock Exchange. “If we succeed… we can crush other networks, and that is our goal,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, current and former Google executives and managers have been caught contradicting themselves when presented with such emails, downplaying them or trying to evade them.
Google, for its part, argued that the government is targeting only a small part of the advertising market (i.e., banner ads at the top and sides of web pages). slideshowThe company said the ad tech industry is “intensely competitive, with new entrants emerging all the time.” The company said there is no “monopolistic power” and that its share of a “two-sided market” has declined even as the company’s revenue has grown.
Google also argues that sellers and buyers are free to choose multiple advertising technology tools (and they do); that it makes its products interoperable with those of its rivals; and that it has sought to create value for advertisers, publishers and users. In 2024, “this is the commercial reality,” the company said.
Google, which will soon have to start its defense, would have won 200 billion dollars in 2023 alone through ad placement and sales.
The case will ultimately be decided by a judge (known as a “bench trial”). Google avoided a jury trial by making a payment of about $2.3 million to the Justice Department. The $2,289,751 check covers a portion of the damages claimed by the plaintiffs and ensures that a judge will make the final decision in the case. Google's legal team described it as a strategic move that will help ensure a quicker resolution.
This is the second antitrust trial Google has faced in the past two years. Earlier this year, the company lost a case centered on its search business; Judge Amit Mehta ruled that the company had engaged in anticompetitive conduct to maintain its dominance, calling Google “monopolist.”The sanctions associated with that sentence have not yet been announced.
