US court rules Google guilty of illegal monopoly in ad tech sector

Search engine giant Google has been found to have an illegal monopoly in the ad tech sector by a U.S. federal judge, a landmark ruling that has far-reaching repercussions for the digital advertising business.

A larger antitrust case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and multiple state attorneys general includes the ruling.

The court concluded that Google unjustly suppresses competition and hurts both advertisers and consumers by controlling important aspects of the internet ad ecosystem, such as publisher platforms, ad exchanges, and ad-buying tools.

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In her ruling, Judge Brinkema stated, “Google has willfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising.” She further explained that Google had strengthened its monopoly by imposing anticompetitive policies on its customers, which had a detrimental effect on rivals and publishers. The conduct, she said, “substantially harmed Google’s publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web.” 

In response, Google vowed to appeal the decision. “We won half of this case and we will appeal the other half,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs. “The court found that our advertiser tools and our acquisitions, such as DoubleClick, don’t harm competition,” she added.

Major structural remedies, such as the potential dissolution of portions of Google’s advertising business, could result from the ruling. Google has declared that it will appeal the decision, claiming that its services offer competition and value rather than coercion.

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