The US Justice Department has won a lawsuit against Google over its alleged monopoly in the ad tech industry. The court ruled that Google “willfully engaged in a pattern of anticompetitive conduct” and that the tech giant’s anticompetitive practices caused “substantial harm” to customers and users.
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The court found Google liable under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. The court found that “plaintiffs have shown that Google knowingly engaged in a series of anticompetitive conducts to obtain and maintain monopoly power in the open web ad placement and ad exchange markets.” “For more than a decade, Google linked its publisher advertising platform to its ad exchange through contractual terms and technological integration that enabled the company to establish and maintain monopoly power in these two markets,” the court wrote.
The Justice Department alleged that Google illegally monopolized three areas of advertising technology: the market for advertising tools for website owners, the platform for advertisers, and the ad exchanges that facilitate transactions. As a result, Google earned monopoly profits at the expense of publishers and advertisers who were in a dependent position due to the lack of viable alternatives.
Google’s lawyers argued that the Justice Department’s allegations were far-fetched and out of touch with reality. Google argued that its tools help publishers and advertisers make money, and that having those tools in different areas provides maximum convenience for consumers. Google’s lawyers argued that the company has legitimate business reasons for its actions, and that the government simply wants to dictate how Google does business.
Further supporting the Justice Department’s position, the court found, was Google’s failure to provide the court with internal communications because its internal messaging app allegedly “deleted records of chats between employees.”
Today’s ruling comes ahead of another court battle between Google and the Justice Department over the tech giant’s search monopoly. If it loses, the company could be forced to break up.