A federal judge ruled on Thursday that Alphabet’s Google unlawfully controlled two online advertising technology markets, further undermining the tech giant in a U.S.-brought antitrust dispute.
Google was found to have illegally monopolized the markets for publisher ad servers and ad exchanges, which act as middlemen between buyers and sellers, by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia. She wrote that antitrust authorities were unable to prove the corporation had a monopoly in advertiser ad networks.
Prosecutors may be able to use the decision to support their case for dismantling Google’s advertising goods. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Google ought to be forced to sell off at least its Google Ad Manager, which consists of the business’s ad exchange and publisher ad server.
Google may now be subject to orders from two separate U.S. courts to sell assets or alter its business operations. The DOJ’s proposal that Google sell its Chrome browser and take other steps to end its dominance in internet search will go to trial next week before a court in Washington.
According to a September Reuters article, Google has previously considered selling off its ad exchange in order to please European antitrust authorities.
Last year, Brinkema presided over a three-week trial on allegations made by the DOJ and a group of states.
Prosecutors claimed during the trial that Google employed traditional monopoly-building strategies, such as snuffing out rivals through acquisitions, enticing consumers to use its products, and regulating how transactions took place in the internet ad market.
Google contended that the case was centered on the past, when the business was still developing mechanisms to integrate with rival goods. According to Google’s attorney, prosecutors allegedly disregarded competition from tech firms like Comcast and Amazon.com as digital ad spending moved to apps and streaming video.