The U.S. Department of Justice has filed its case against Google with a federal judge, alleging that the company has monopolized the online advertising technology market. This marks the start of another major antitrust case for the tech conglomerate, which is already facing growing regulatory scrutiny.
In federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Monday, Julia Tarver Wood, the government’s lead counsel, argued in her opening statement that Google’s 2008 acquisition of DoubleClick gave it control over the online advertising auction market. According to Wood, Google has an 87 percent market share, resulting in inflated prices and major cuts to revenue, which have had negative effects on website owners and news publishers.
Wood stressed that Google’s dominant position in the market was not simply a result of its size, but had been strategically achieved by excluding competitors and manipulating market rules to increase its profits.
The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department and eight states, accuses Google of using its market position in ad tech to violate antitrust laws. It follows a previous court decision last year that found Google had monopolized online search, a decision that is still being deliberated on for appropriate remedies.
In response, Google refuted the allegations, arguing that its ad tech framework has benefited small businesses and content creators. The company’s legal representative, Karen Dunn, highlighted the competitive nature of the ad tech space, indicating that Google operates amid a broad spectrum of competitors across multiple platforms.
The legal proceedings are expected to continue through next month, with testimony expected from several Google executives and other digital advertising stakeholders. The outcome of this trial could lead to significant structural changes within Google, particularly in its ad tech segment, which generated significant revenue last year.
The lawsuit is part of a broader regulatory effort to limit the influence of major tech companies, which includes ongoing lawsuits against other tech giants such as Apple, Amazon, and Meta over various aspects of their businesses.
