US asks court to force Google to split ad tech division due to monopoly

The US government has said it will propose a strong measure to force Google to divest its publisher and ad exchange businesses.

The US government on May 2 (US time) officially asked a federal judge to rule that Google must split up its giant advertising technology business, after a preliminary court determined that the company was maintaining an illegal monopoly in the market.

Speaking at a hearing in Virginia federal court, Julia Tarver Wood, an attorney with the Justice Department 's antitrust division, stressed that Google has found many ways to violate the law. She urged the judge to reject Google's commitment to change its behavior.

The request follows a ruling last month by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who agreed with much of the government’s argument that Google had created an illegal monopoly over the advertising software and tools used by publishers. But she rejected the part of the argument that involved tools for advertisers.

The US government has said it will propose a strong measure to force Google to divest its publisher and ad exchange businesses.

The reason given is that Google cannot be trusted to change its behavior to comply with the law.

Ms Tarver Wood argued that behavioral remedies were not enough because they could not stop Google from finding new ways to dominate the market.

On Google's side, attorney Karen Dunn said the company proposed a binding commitment to more transparently share information with advertisers and publishers on its ad tech platform.

However, Ms Dunn acknowledged the “trust issues” raised in the lawsuit and said Google would accept oversight to ensure it met any commitments it made in court.

Judge Brinkema also urged the two sides to enter mediation, stressing that reaching a compromise solution would be more cost-effective and efficient than a weeks-long trial, scheduled to begin in September 2025, to determine final remedies.

This is the latest legal pressure Google faces from the US government, which is also demanding that the technology giant sell its Chrome browser in a separate antitrust case related to Google's market-dominating search engine business./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/my-yeu-cau-toa-an-buoc-google-chia-tach-mang-cong-nghe-quang-cao-do-doc-quyen-post1036352.vnp