A federal judge found that by “acquiring and maintaining monopoly” in the ad technology market, Google violates antitrust laws and concludes the two-year story after the US and eight states filed their first complaints against alphabet-owned companies.
The court will set up a briefing schedule and hearing date for each application Thursday to determine the appropriate remedy for antitrust violations.
The remedies include Google disbanding advertising businesses, such as the ad servers used by publishers, such as the sale of ADX AD Exchange and Google Ad Manager, including DFP (DoubleClick for Publishers).
Alternatively, the court could force behavioral therapy that would allow Google to keep its business intact, but would force Google to impose restrictions to ensure fair competition, such as banning Google from prioritizing its own exchanges and demand at auctions.
In the case of another antitrust, another federal judge last year found that Google illegally dominated the popular internet search market. The judge has not yet issued a relief package for the case, but it is expected that in mid-2025.
In the case of Adtech, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema wrote in her memorandum that the plaintiffs were unable to prove that the “Open-Web Display Advertiser Advertiser Network” was a related market in which Google has exclusive rights. These networks are outside of a closed ecosystem such as Facebook, Instagram, Google Search, and more, as they help advertisers buy display ads across the open web.
The judge agreed that Google violated the Sherman Act by monopolizing and illegally linking two parts of the AdTech stack, particularly DFP and ADX, and that Google is guilty of abuse of publisher AdTech’s monopoly rights.
“We’re going to win half of this case and sue the other half,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, in an email statement. “The court has found that advertisers’ tools and acquisitions such as DoubleClick are not harmful to competition. They disagree with the court’s decision on publisher tools. We choose Google because publishers have many options and advertising technology tools are simple, affordable and effective.”
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in January 2023 against alleged use of monopolies in the digital advertising market, alongside California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia.
DOJ claimed that when Google bought DoubleClick in 2008, it achieved monopoly through anti-competitive conduct and has since become the backbone of the advertising business. Google then bought Admeld in 2011 to gain more control over the supply side of the advertising market. The government says this will allow Google to raise advertising prices and harm publishers by significantly reducing each sale.
The trial in this case began in September 2024 and lasted for three weeks, with discussions concluded in late November.
This article has been updated to include more background on the case.
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