A federal judge has found that Google has violated antitrust laws by “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in the advertising technology market, rounding out a two-year saga after the U.S. and eight states filed its initial complaints against the Alphabet-owned company.
The court will set a briefing schedule and hearing date to determine appropriate remedies for the antitrust violations, per a Thursday filing.
The remedies could include forcing 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 server used for publishers.
Or the courts could force behavioral remedies that would allow Google to keep its business intact, but would impose restrictions to ensure fair competition, like prohibiting Google from prioritizing its own exchange or demand in auctions.
In a separate antitrust case, another federal judge last year found that Google illegally monopolized the general internet search market. The judge has not yet issued remedies on that case, but is expected to do so in mid-2025.
In the adtech case, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema wrote in her memorandum opinion that the plaintiffs failed to prove that the “open-web display advertiser ad networks” are a relevant market where Google has monopoly power. These networks help advertisers buy display ads across the open web, so outside of closed ecosystems like Facebook, Instagram, and Google Search.
The judge did agree that Google violated the Sherman Act by monopolizing and unlawfully tying two parts of the adtech stack together, specifically DFP and AdX, and that Google is guilty of abuse of monopoly power in the publisher-side adtech.
This story is developing. Check back in for updates.
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