US antitrust trial targets Google's digital ad business

Google logo is seen through broken glass in this illustration taken, 25 January 2023. Photo: REUTERS

Alphabet's Google faces trial in a second antitrust case next week where the US Department of Justice will challenge how the search giant monetizes advertising through a system that prosecutors say harms news publishers.

The case is part of the Biden administration's effort to rein in Big Tech through antitrust law, and follows a major win for the Justice Department in a separate lawsuit on 5 August when a judge found that Google illegally monopolized online search.

While that case focused on Google's ubiquitous search engine, the trial beginning in Alexandria, Virginia, on Monday will home in on less conspicuous Google technology that connects website publishers and advertisers.

"Google is far and away the largest seller of advertising on earth. They touch every part of the industry, if not directly, then indirectly. Everyone has an interest in Google one way or another," said Brian Wieser, an advertising consultant and financial analyst.

The Justice Department and a coalition of states will seek to show Google broke US antitrust law in its digital advertising businesses. A victory for the states and Justice Department would set the stage for them to ask US District Judge Leonie Brinkema to order a breakup of the company.

The antitrust regulators accuse Google of dominating the markets for the technology behind website ads by tying its tools for publishers and advertisers together, staking out a "privileged position as the middleman."

Google has denied the claims, saying it is not required to share technological advantages with rivals and that its products are interoperable with those offered by competitors.

The Justice Department alleges that Google controls 91% of the market for ad servers, where publishers offer ad space, more than 85% of the market for ad networks, which advertisers use to place ads, and over half of the market for ad exchanges.

Google says its share of those markets is 30% or less when including advertising on social media, streaming TV and apps, and says the Justice Department's narrow focus on website ads obscures the fierce competition it faces as those categories grow.

Google competitors on the advertiser side, such as Trade Desk and Comcast, and publisher side, such as PubMatic, are on the list of potential witnesses.