Google has illegal monopoly in online ad tech, U.S. judge rules

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Apr 17, 2025 11:18 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Alphabet's Google illegally dominated 2 markets for online advertizing technology, a national justice said connected Thursday, dealing different stroke to the tech titan successful an antitrust lawsuit brought by the U.S. government.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema successful Alexandria, Va., ruled that Google unlawfully monopolized markets for steadfast advertisement servers and the marketplace for advertisement exchanges, which beryllium betwixt buyers and sellers. Antitrust enforcers failed to amusement the institution had a monopoly successful advertiser networks, she wrote.

The ruling could let prosecutors to reason for a breakup of Google's advertizing products. The U.S. Department of Justice has said that Google should person to merchantability disconnected astatine slightest its Google Ad Manager, which includes the company's steadfast advertisement server and its advertisement exchange.

Google volition present look the anticipation of 2 antithetic U.S. courts ordering it to merchantability assets oregon alteration its concern practices. A justice successful Washington volition clasp a proceedings soon connected the Justice Department's petition to marque Google merchantability its Chrome browser and instrumentality different measures to extremity its dominance successful online search.

Google has antecedently explored selling disconnected its advertisement speech to appease European antitrust regulators, Reuters reported successful September.

Brinkema oversaw a three-week proceedings past twelvemonth connected claims brought by the the Department of Justice and a conjugation of states.

LISTEN l The large questions concerning the advertisement tech lawsuit (2024): 

Google utilized classical monopoly-building tactics of eliminating competitors done acquisitions, locking customers successful to utilizing its products and controlling however transactions occurred successful the online advertisement market, prosecutors said astatine trial.

Google argued the lawsuit focused connected the past, erstwhile the institution was inactive moving connected making its tools capable to link to competitors' products. Prosecutors besides ignored contention from exertion companies including Amazon.com and Comcast arsenic integer advertisement spending shifted to apps and streaming video, Google's lawyer said.