A judge in the United States ruled on Thursday, that Alphabet’s Google illegally dominates two markets for online advertising technology.
This is another blow to the tech giant, paving the way for U.S. antitrust prosecutors to seek a breakup of its ad products.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, found Google liable for “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in the markets for publisher ad servers and ad exchanges between buyers and sellers.
The ruling opens the door to another hearing to assess what steps Google needs to take to reestablish competition in those markets.
These steps may include divesting certain parts of its business in a future trial that has yet to be scheduled.
The second court ruling is that Google holds an illegal monopoly, following a similar judgment over an online search case.
Publisher ad servers are platforms that store and manage digital ad inventory.
Along with ad exchanges, the technology lets news publishers and other online content providers make money by selling ads. Those funds are the “lifeblood” of the internet, Brinkema wrote.
“In addition to depriving rivals of the ability to compete, this exclusionary conduct substantially harmed Google’s publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web,” Brinkema wrote.
However, she wrote, antitrust enforcers failed to prove a separate claim that the company had a monopoly in advertising ad networks.
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi called the ruling “a landmark victory in the ongoing fight to stop Google from monopolising the digital public square.”
“This Department of Justice will continue taking bold legal action to protect the American people from tech companies’ encroachments on free speech and free markets,” she said.
Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland said Google will appeal the ruling.
“We won half of this case, and we will appeal the other half,” she said, adding that the company disagrees with the decision on its publisher tools.
“Publishers have many options and they choose Google because our ad tech tools are simple, affordable and effective.”
Google’s shares dropped by 1.4% after Thursday’s ruling. Experts previously told reporters that the tech giant’s financial hit from a loss in the case would be minimal.
The company is best known for its search engine.
The DOJ has said that Google should have to sell off at least its Google Ad Manager, which includes the company’s publisher ad server and ad exchange.
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