Google Scores Partial Win In Antitrust Case But Faces Setback On Publisher Tools

The U.S. Department of Justice has won its antitrust case against Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google for operating a monopoly in advertising technology.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema concluded that Google has engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising.

For over ten years, Google has bundled its publisher ad server and ad exchange to help it maintain monopoly power in these two markets.

Also Read: Qualcomm Accuses Arm Of Antitrust Violations Across US, EU, And Korea Over Chip Access

However, Judge Brinkema dismissed allegations against Google for monopolizing ad networks. In August, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google’s dominant search engine is an unlawful monopoly.

Judge Brinkema, like Judge Mehta, warned Google for failing to preserve internal communications, citing an internal messaging app that deleted records of chats between employees.

Google VP Lee-Anne Mulholland told the Verge that Google has won half of this case and will appeal the other half. The Court found that Google’s advertiser tools and acquisitions, like DoubleClick, did not breach antitrust rules. Google disagreed with the Court’s decision regarding its publisher tools.

The U.S. Big Tech giants have drawn global regulatory attention for alleged antitrust violations.

Google is facing a £5 billion ($6.6 billion) class action lawsuit in the U.K. for allegedly exploiting its dominant market position in the online search industry.

In January, Google contested the European Commission in Luxembourg against the record European Union antitrust fine over its Android operating system. The European Union regulator penalized Google by 4.34 billion euros ($4.55 billion) in 2018 for allegedly exploiting its influence to drive traffic from Android devices to Google’s search engine.

Reportedly, the Justice Department has doubled down on its demand to break up Google, pushing for the sale of Chrome and restrictions on its search business. As per a court filing in March, the Justice Department reaffirmed its call for Google to divest Chrome and end its exclusive search engine deals with Apple Inc AAPL, Mozilla, and smartphone manufacturers.

Google held $95.66 billion in cash and equivalents as of December 31, 2024.

Separately, the Federal Trade Commission is preparing to take Meta Platforms, Inc META for allegedly stifling competition with acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. It is also alleged Amazon.com, Inc AMZN is illegally maintaining its dominance in online retail.

Price Action: GOOGL stock is down 1.40% at $151.22 at last check Thursday.

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