Google loses adtech monopoly case

The US Department of Justice has won its antitrust case against Google, which accused the company of operating a monopoly in the advertising technology industry. “Plaintiffs have proven that Google has willfully 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,“ the ruling reads. Over the course of three weeks, the DOJ argued that illegally monopolized three separate markets in the ad tech space: that for publisher ad tools, advertiser ad networks, and the ad exchanges that facilitate transactions. They also argued that Google illegally tied together their publisher ad server and ad exchange in violation of antitrust law. The upshot, according to the government, is that Google collects monopoly profits at the expense of publishers and advertisers, who have a worse experience with no real alternatives. Google, on the other hand, argued that the government’s whole vi ... Read full article.