- A US Judge has considered Google violated the antitrust laws
- The allegedly monopolized advertising market by tying to its products together
- Google could have to sell parts of its business but remedies have not yet been confirmed
A Judge of Virginia District has given up that Google violated antitrust legislation by “intentionally acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in the market for advertising technology and spelling potentially serious consequences for the tech giant.
The order follows a 2023 trial from the Department of Justice, supported by eight separate US states, accusing the company of harming rivals, publishers and consumers online.
Google was specifically found guilty of monopolizing the market by tying two parts of its Adtech Stack – DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) and Ad Exchange (ADX).
Judge rule that Google violated antitrust legislation
Despite the conclusions, the referee did not find a monopoly in advertiser ad network that represented a partial victory for Google.
Although Google has been found guilty, the referee did not determine any remedies. A separate hearing explains what Google has to do to comply with the antitrust laws and set up equal violations. Consequences may include the division of Google’s advertising business, such as selling Google Ad-manager, and additional means of behavior such as banning Google from self-tension in AD auctions.
“After finding Google responsible, the Court will determine a briefing plan and the hearing date to determine the relevant remedies for these antitrust violations,” the decision confirms.
Noticing the continued employment of competitive business practices for more than a decade, the judge said: “In addition to depriving rivals of the ability to compete, this exclusionary behavior significantly hurt Google’s publishing customers, the competitive process and ultimately consumers of information on the open web.”
“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, do not harm the competition,” Gogogle’s VP told Legislative Affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland told Techradar Pro.
“Publishers have many options and they choose Google because our ad technology tools are simple, affordable and effective.”
Google is also in hot water about its search market dominance – nine out of 10 (89.7%) of all Internet searches traced by statscounter used Google. Bing in second place was only 4%.
If the company is found guilty of violation there, it can also be forced to sell its Chrome business, a browser that accounts for two out of three (66.2%) browser sessions globally. This case is ongoing.
