Google begins to have a monopoly to be called for having a monopoly. For the second time in less than a year, the technology giant has reportedly operated an illegal monopoly, this time for its online advertising technology. Judge Leonie Brinkema of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia released a 115-page decision on Thursday, which found Google violated anti-trim laws to establish a firm hold over the online advertising space, allowing the company to load higher prices and maintain a greater share of promotional sales.
In his decision, Judge Brinkema said Google “willingly gained and maintained a monopoly power” over parts of the web-commercial business connecting his advertising service business, DoubleClick, used by publishers to sell advertisements on his platforms, to the highest offer of AD.
That combination, the judge found, created “a lasting and” predominant part of the market “protected by high barriers both to entry and expansion.” The judge also found that this monopolistic hold on the Internet advertising space “substantially damaged Google’s publishing customers, the competitive process and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open website.”
The court’s findings suggest that Google has a vice cracker on the Internet advertising business. As noted by Search Engine JournalThe case showed that from 2018 to 2022, Google controlled about 91% of the global publisher -Relam market. It also handled in much more than 65% of all advertising transactions, which was about nine times larger than the next closest competitor. With that control, Google was able to squeeze users for 20% of the transaction cost it has inserted, compared to competitors taking about 10%.
Judge Brinkema’s judgment found Google “responsible under sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act” for its monopolistic behaviors in the advertising and exchange companies, but the judge rejected another allegation that Google operated monopoly in advertising networks.
“We won half of this case and we will appeal the other half,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Vice President, regulatory issues said in a statement to Gizmodo. “The court has found that our advertising tools and our acquisitions, such as DoubleClick, do not harm competition. We disagree with the Court’s decision on our publishers. Publishers have many options and they choose Google because our advertising tools are simple, affordable and effective.”
Do what you do with that interpretation, but what comes later is the stage of medicines that could lead to the potential breakdown of Google’s Adtech operations. In fact, this is the Department of Justice asked the court to do, forcing the company to sell some of the advertising operations it accumulated during its market angle days.
The possible resolution to this case could remodel a significant portion of Google’s profit centers. Via The New York TimesThe Google administrator generated $ 31 billion in 2023, about one tenth of the total revenue from parent company Alphabet. It could also represent a remake for the government, which allowed Google Get DoubleClick back in 2007 for $ 3.1 billion Without any intervention of agencies that perform anti.
The judgment opens a new front for Google’s struggle to hold together. In addition to the latter finding of monopolistic behavior, Google is looking at an audience that could result in the courts forcing it to break their search operations, coming from control last August, that the company also operates a monopoly in that space. The audiences on how to remedy that case will start this next Monday.
With the latter finding in the Adtech space, which Google will challenge, it is becoming more and more at the look like an alphabet will soon lose some letters.
