Google Loses Another Antitrust Lawsuit In the United States — This One Targeting Its Advertising Products
Google has suffered another defeat in U.S. courts. In 2024, a judge from the District of Columbia ruled that the company maintains a monopoly over online search. And this Thursday, in a separate case, District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema (Virginia) issued a ruling against the advertising empire of the Mountain View-based firm. This case pits Google against the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of U.S. states.
In her ruling, the judge wrote:
“The plaintiffs have proven that Google deliberately engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts in order to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the ad server and ad exchange markets for display advertising on the open web. For over a decade, Google tied its publisher ad server and its ad exchange through contractual policies and technological integration, which allowed it to establish and protect its monopoly power in both markets.”
The judge also pointed to anticompetitive policies imposed on clients.
As a reminder, the ad server is the technology that manages and distributes online advertising campaigns, while the ad exchange is a kind of marketplace where advertising space is bought and sold.
The judge Leonie Brinkema also pointed to anticompetitive policies imposed on clients.
Google has already responded
The Mountain View company has already responded to the ruling through Lee-Anne Mulholland, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs :
“We won half of this case and we will appeal the other half. The Court found that our advertiser tools and our acquisitions, such as DoubleClick, don’t harm competition. 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.” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs.
What are the consequences?
In her ruling, the judge stated that, having recognized Google’s liability, the Court will now set a timeline to determine the corrective measures for the violations of U.S. antitrust laws. In any case, the plaintiffs are seeking damages, as well as the divestiture of Google’s ad server and ad exchange products. Such a decision would have very serious consequences for the Alphabet group, as the majority of its revenue comes from advertising.
It’s also worth noting that the U.S. justice system has yet to issue a ruling in the other case targeting Google’s search engine. In that case, the U.S. Department of Justice is calling for Google to sell its Chrome browser.
Links
- Google loses ad tech monopoly case – The Verge
- Sell your pre-owned Google Pixel phone online – iGotOffer
Google operates illegal ad monopoly, judge finds [Video]
Video uploaded by LiveNOW from FOX on April 18, 2025.
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