Google, owned by Alphabet, was found to have illegally controlled two markets related to online advertising technology. The ruling by a US District Judge in Alexandria, Virginia, on Thursday dealt a blow to the tech giant, opening the door for anti-trust prosecutors to potentially split up its advertising products.
The judge, Leonie Brinkema, held Google responsible for monopolizing the market for advertising exchanges between buyers and sellers, as well as for publisher ad server platforms used to manage advertising inventory on websites. The judge rejected the claim that Google had a monopoly on advertisers’ ad networks.
Lee-Anne Mulholland, vice-chairman of the regulator, stated that Google plans to appeal the ruling.
The decision sets the stage for further proceedings to determine how Google can restore competition in the markets it monopolized. This may involve selling off a portion of its business, though no date has been set for this examination.
The Department of Justice has indicated that Google may need to sell Google Ad Manager at the very least.
In addition to this case, Google is facing the possibility of being forced to sell assets or change its practices in another court case. A Washington judge is set to preside over a trial next week concerning Google’s Chrome browsers and its dominance in online searches. Google has previously considered selling ad exchanges to comply with European antitrust regulations.
Brinkema presided over a trial last year where prosecutors accused Google of using monopoly tactics to eliminate competitors and control online advertising transactions. Google refutes these claims, stating that it continues to develop tools that can work with competitors’ products and pointing out competition from companies like Amazon and Comcast.
Source: www.theguardian.com
