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A Union judge hasfoundthat Google violated antitrust laws by “ wilfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power ” in the publicizing technology marketplace , round out a two - year saga after the U.S. and eight state of matter file itsinitial complaintsagainst the Alphabet - owned troupe .
The court will fructify a briefing schedule and hearing date to determine appropriate remedies for the antitrust violations , per a Thursday filing .
The remediation could include squeeze Google to break up its advertising business , like selling its Google Ad Manager , which includes the AdX ad exchange and DFP ( DoubleClick for Publishers ) , the ad waiter used for publishers .
Or the courts could force behavioral remedies that would give up Google to keep its commercial enterprise intact , but would impose restriction to ensure fair competition , like prohibiting Google from prioritise its own rally or demand in auction sale .
In a freestanding antitrust case , another Union evaluator last year found thatGoogle illegally monopolized the general net hunt marketplace . The evaluator has not yet issued remedy on that case , but is expect to do so in mid-2025 .
In the adtech case , Judge Leonie M. Brinkema spell in her memorandum opinion that the plaintiffs failed to essay that the “ open - entanglement video display advertizer advertizement meshing ” are a relevant market where Google has monopoly power . These web help advertiser buy display ads across the clear web , so they ’re outside of closed ecosystems like Facebook , Instagram , and Google Search .
The judge did agree that Google violated the Sherman Act by monopolizing and unlawfully tie two share of the adtech stack together , specifically DFP and AdX , and that Google is guilty of abuse of monopoly superpower in the publisher - side adtech .
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“ We win half of this case and we will appeal the other one-half , ” Lee - Anne Mulholland , Google ’s vice prexy of regulatory affairs , said in an emailed financial statement . “ The Court found that our adman tools and our acquisitions , such as DoubleClick , do n’t harm challenger . We disagree with the Court ’s decision regarding our publishing firm tools . Publishers have many option and they choose Google because our advert technical school tools are simple , low-cost and effective . ”
The Department of Justice – alongside California , Colorado , Connecticut , New Jersey , New York , Rhode Island , Tennessee , and Virginia – filed suit against Google ’s alleged manipulation of monopoly power over the digital advertising marketin January 2023 .
The DOJ argued that Google achieved its monopoly through anti - free-enterprise behaviour when it purchased DoubleClick in 2008 , which then became the grit of its ad business . Google then bought AdMeld in 2011 to gain more control over the ad market place ’s supply side . The regime says this allowed Google to hike up up ad cost and harm publishers by taking prominent cut of each sales agreement .
The test for this pillowcase began in September 2024 and hold up for three hebdomad , with ending controversy present in belated November .
This article has been updated to let in more background about the subject .
