Google faces a new federal court challenge on Monday as US government attorneys seek a judge’s order to separate the tech giant’s ad technology business.
This lawsuit marks Google’s second court test this year, following a similar government request to break up its empire that was rejected earlier this month.
The case centers on Google’s ad tech “stack,” the tools used by website publishers to sell ads and advertisers to buy them.
Earlier this year, Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema agreed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) that Google held an illegal monopoly in this market.
The trial will decide the penalties and changes Google must make to dismantle its monopoly.
According to court documents, the US government will argue that Google should divest its ad publisher and exchange operations. The DOJ will also request that Google be prohibited from operating an ad exchange for 10 years post-divestiture.
Google will argue that the divestiture demands exceed the court’s findings, are technically impractical, and would harm the market and smaller businesses.
“We’ve said from the beginning that the DOJ’s case misinterprets the digital advertising industry and overlooks its evolving competition,” stated Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs.
In a related case, the European Commission fined Google 2.95 billion euros ($3.47 billion) earlier this month for its control over the ad tech market.
Brussels mandated behavioral adjustments, sparking criticism for being lenient as they had previously suggested divestiture might be necessary.
This phase of the US trial follows a first trial that found Google operated an illegal monopoly. It is expected to last about a week, with closing arguments scheduled a few weeks later.
The trial begins the same month another judge dismissed a government request for Google to divest its Chrome browser, a decision viewed as a win for the tech giant.
This was part of a separate case, also filed by the DOJ, where Google was found guilty of monopolizing online search.
Rather than a major breakup, Google was required to share data with competitors as part of its remedies.
The US government argued for Chrome’s divestiture, claiming the browser is a key internet gateway responsible for a third of all Google searches.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has seen its shares rise over 20 percent since that ruling.
Judge Brinkema has indicated in pre-trial hearings that she will carefully consider the search trial’s outcome when deciding her approach in her own case.
These cases are part of a wider bipartisan government initiative against major tech companies, with the US having five ongoing antitrust cases against such firms.
