Justice Department Requests Court Order for Divestiture;
Google Objects, Citing Lack of Legal Basis
As the U.S. government sharpens its focus on Google's monopoly in the online search market, it has now turned its attention to advertising technology, initiating efforts to force a divestiture.
According to Bloomberg and other sources, on the night of May 5 (local time), the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion with the court requesting an order for Google to immediately divest its 'AdX' business. Google AdX is an advertising exchange where advertisers seeking to place ads and publishers looking to sell ad space are connected in real time to buy and sell ads.
The Department of Justice also asked the court to order the phased divestiture of the 'Google Ad Manager' business. Google Ad Manager is a publisher ad server platform used by publishers to manage the placement and posting of ads they have sold or intend to sell.
This move follows last month's court ruling that found Google in violation of antitrust laws in two of the three sectors of the ad tech market: ad servers and exchanges.
In its filing, the Department of Justice argued, "To end Google's monopoly, a comprehensive remedy is needed, including the divestiture of the monopoly positions Google unlawfully obtained and the products that served as key tools in Google's illegal scheme."
In response, Google stated, "The Department of Justice's additional proposal to force the sale of advertising technology tools goes beyond the court's judgment, has no legal basis, and would harm publishers and advertisers."
In its written submission to the court on the night of May 5, Google opposed the breakup of its business and instead proposed as an alternative that AdX be required to interoperate smoothly with competing technology platforms, and that compliance with this requirement be monitored for the next three years.
U.S. government antitrust investigators believe that Google has undermined fair competition by granting special access or advantages to its own advertising technology.
Previously, on April 17, Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that Google had engaged in anti-competitive conduct to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the advertising exchange and publisher ad server sectors. Judge Brinkema stated, "For over a decade, Google established and protected its monopoly position through contractual policies and technical integration that tied these two markets together."
However, Judge Brinkema dismissed the Department of Justice's claims regarding the 'ad network' sector, which intermediates between advertisers and publishers, one of the three business areas in which the Department alleged illegal monopoly conduct by Google. Judge Brinkema plans to hold a trial starting in September 2025 to address remedies for Google's monopoly in the online advertising market. The Department of Justice's request and Google's proposal, both submitted on the night of May 5, will be reviewed during this trial.
Separately, in August 2024, Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Google had illegally monopolized the online search market, and a trial is ongoing to determine remedies for this monopoly. In that case, the Department of Justice is arguing that Google should be forced to divest its 'Chrome' web browser.
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