Google faces renewed scrutiny in federal court on Monday as U.S. government lawyers push for the breakup of the company’s advertising technology operations. The case marks the second major antitrust challenge against the California-based tech giant this year, following a separate court decision earlier in September that rejected a government demand to divest parts of Google’s broader empire.
Monday’s trial focuses on Google’s ad tech “stack,” the suite of tools that publishers use to sell digital ads and advertisers use to purchase them. Earlier this year, U.S. Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google held an illegal monopoly in this sector. The current phase of the trial will determine the remedies the company must implement to address its dominant market position.
The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking the divestiture of Google’s ad publisher and exchange operations and proposes that the company be barred from operating an ad exchange for a decade following the divestitures. Google contends that these measures are technically unfeasible, exceed the court’s findings, and could negatively affect the digital advertising market.
In Europe, regulators have also targeted Google’s ad tech business. The European Commission recently fined the company 2.95 billion euros ($3.47 billion) for market control, ordering behavioral remedies rather than structural separation.
This trial follows an earlier U.S. case in which Google was found to hold an illegal monopoly in online search. While the government had sought a divestiture of Google’s Chrome browser, the court instead required the company to share data with competitors, a decision that contributed to a significant rise in Alphabet’s stock value.
The outcome of the current ad tech trial is expected to influence future rulings in related antitrust cases, as the Biden administration continues a bipartisan push against the market dominance of major technology firms. The U.S. currently has five pending antitrust lawsuits against leading tech companies, reflecting intensified regulatory oversight of the digital economy.
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