Google loses in court again

Google lost again. Photo: Bloomberg .

On April 17 (US time), US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema declared that Alphabet violated antitrust laws in the advertising transaction market and the tools used by websites to sell advertising space, also known as ad servers.

However, Ms. Brinkema determined that Alphabet did not violate the business of selling tools used by advertisers to buy display ads.

Shares of Google's parent company fell 3.2% immediately after the verdict was announced.

This is the second time in a year that Alphabet has lost an antitrust case in a US court. A new trial in Washington next week will consider remedies after Google was found to have a monopoly in the online search market.

“Google intentionally engaged in a series of anticompetitive practices to gain and maintain monopoly power in the ad server market,” Brinkema wrote in the court’s ruling.

The judge also found that Google “continued to entrench its monopoly power” through anti-competitive policies toward customers and by eliminating certain features.

“In addition to depriving rivals of the ability to compete, this exclusionary behavior significantly harms customers, the competitive process, and ultimately consumers of information on the web,” she wrote.

Since 2023, the US Department of Justice and a group of states have sued Google, accusing the company of illegally monopolizing three separate markets related to technology used for online display advertising: ad servers, exchanges, and networks.

Jonathan Kanter called the ruling a victory for Internet freedom. Photo: Bloomberg.

Google said it would appeal the part of the case where it lost. "We disagree with the Court's decision regarding publisher tools. Publishers have many options, and they choose Google because our advertising technologies are simple, affordable, and effective," said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's vice president of legal affairs.

Jonathan Kanter, the head of the Justice Department's antitrust division under former President Joe Biden, said on LinkedIn that the ruling "is a huge victory for antitrust enforcement, the media industry, and a free and open internet."

Much of the Justice Department’s case focuses on examining Google’s past acquisitions, including DoubleClick, a company that partners with websites to sell ads. Judge Brinkema largely agreed.

“Google’s consolidation of its publisher-focused business through the acquisition of DoubleClick has allowed the company to establish a dominant position in both advertising technology areas,” she said in the ruling.

However, in ruling in favor of Google in the advertiser marketplace, Brinkema found that advertisers can choose based on “the perceived return on advertising spend.”

In the case, one witness, the owner of a beauty tech startup, switched from Google’s AdWords to Instagram based on his experience with each platform. This example was cited in the ruling, which argued in Google’s favor.

Source: https://znews.vn/google-lai-thua-tai-toa-post1546773.html