Alphabet's Google will face U.S. antitrust prosecutors on Monday in Alexandria, Virginia, where the Justice Department will try to show that the company stifled competition in online advertising technology, in the search giant's second recent clash with the Justice Department.
Prosecutors say Google has largely dominated the technological infrastructure that funds the flow of news and information on websites through more than 150,000 online ad sales every second.
The case is important for efforts by U.S. antitrust authorities to challenge alleged monopolies by Big Tech companies, which have expanded under the administrations of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Prosecutors say Google engaged in a complex scheme to dominate website advertising tools, through acquisitions, restrictions on how customers can use its tools and alleged manipulation of ad auctions.
Google denies the allegations, saying they misrepresent legal efforts to develop its technology and serve its own customers. Prosecutors overlook how the digital advertising market has shifted toward apps and connected TV, where Google faces stiff competition, the company has said.
If U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema finds that Google violated the law, she will then consider prosecutors' request to force Google to sell, at a minimum, Google Ad Manager, a platform that includes Google's publisher ad server and its ad exchange.
According to research by equity analyst Wedbush, Google’s ad tech tools accounted for $20 billion (roughly Rs 1,679,090 crore), or 11 per cent, of the company’s gross revenue in 2020 and around $1 billion (roughly Rs 83,950 crore), or 2.6 per cent, of operating profit that year.
Ad Manager accounted for 4.1 percent of revenue and 1.5 percent of operating profit in 2020, according to Wedbush research and analysis of court documents.
More recent figures were redacted from court documents.
Google’s defense team is led by Karen Dunn, a partner at the law firm Paul, Weiss, who has guided debate preparations for several prominent Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris.
The government’s legal team is led by Julia Tarver Wood, a veteran trial lawyer who joined the Justice Department last year. She previously worked at Paul, Weiss, where she represented companies including insurer American International Group, Mastercard and Amazon.com.
The trial, which will last several weeks, is expected to include witnesses from Google and competitors in the digital advertising space such as the Trade Desk and Comcast, as well as publishers such as News Corp and Gannett, which prosecutors say were harmed by Google's conduct.
The case is one of several that question alleged monopolies of large technology companies.
The Justice Department won a ruling against Google last month in a separate case over its dominance in online search and is separately suing Apple. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is pursuing lawsuits against Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company, and Amazon.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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