A federal judge ruled that Google has illegally maintained a monopoly over online advertising technology, marking a significant legal setback for the tech giant.
The Details: The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, focused on Google's domination of the advertising technology markets. The judge found that Google had engaged in a series of anti-competitive practices, including eliminating competitors through acquisitions and forcing customers to use its products. She ruled that such conduct had "substantially harmed Google’s publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web."
For Context: The Justice Department has argued that Google should be forced to sell off its digital advertising products, especially Google Ad Manager, which includes both its ad server and its ad exchange. Brinkema said a second trial phase will be held to “determine the appropriate remedies.”
How the Media Covered It: AP (Left bias) wrote that the case branded Google as an “abusive monopolist” twice in less than a year. New York Post (Lean Right bias) included perspectives from Google's attorneys, who argued that the ruling was based on an "outdated understanding of the internet" and warned that it carried a “serious risk of error or unintended consequences.” Forbes (Center bias) also brought up Meta’s recent antitrust lawsuit, which may force another tech giant to restructure or sell some of its apps.
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Google Held Monopoly Over Online Advertising Technology, Judge Rules
A federal judge ruled on Thursday Google violated antitrust laws to hold a monopoly over online advertising technology, a major loss for the company in its latest antitrust case as Google may soon be forced to sell its Chrome browser and other assets.
Google’s digital ad network declared an illegal monopoly, joining its search engine in penalty box
Google has been branded an abusive monopolist by a federal judge for the second time in less than a year, this time for illegally exploiting some of its online marketing technology to boost the profits fueling an internet empire currently worth $1.8 trillion.
The ruling issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia comes on the heels of a separate decision in August that concluded Google’s namesake search engine has been illegally leveraging its dominance to stifle competition and innovation.
Google operates illegal ad monopolies that ‘substantially harmed’ customers, judge rules
Google operates illegal monopolies over two separate markets related to digital advertising technology, a federal judge ruled on Thursday – dealing the Big Tech giant another historic antitrust loss that could result in a breakup of its online empire.
The bombshell ruling by US Judge Leonie Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia determined that Google violated the Sherman Act by dominating the online publisher ad server market and the ad-exchange market that connects ad buyers to sellers.