US argues Google created ad tech monopoly
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Justice Department told a federal judge Monday that Google had built a monopoly in lucrative technology that delivers online ads, kicking off a second federal antitrust trial against the tech giant amid mounting scrutiny of the industry.
Google used its acquisition of the advertising software company DoubleClick in 2008 to dominate technology that auctions off ads on webpages as users visit, Julia Tarver Wood, the government’s lead trial lawyer, said in opening statements. Google now has an 87% market share in that ad-selling technology, allowing it to charge higher prices and take a bigger portion of each sale, which harms news publishers and other website owners, she said.
Ultimately, Google used its size and influence to lock out competitors and rigged the rules to pad its bottom line, Wood said in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
“Google is not here because they are big,” she said. “They are here because they used that size to crush competition.”
The trial stems from a case — U.S. et al v. Google — that the Justice Department and eight states filed against Google last year. In its suit, the agency and states accused the internet giant of abusing control of its ad technology and violating antitrust law. It is the second federal antitrust trial the Silicon Valley company has faced in a year, with a federal judge ruling in the other case in August that Google had illegally maintained a monopoly over online search. That judge is now considering how to resolve those concerns, which could include ordering Google to sell off parts of its business.
The cases against Google are part of a growing push by regulators to rein in the power of the biggest tech companies, which shape commerce, information and communication online.
Google has denied the ad-tech allegations, saying the government is trying to disrupt a system that has benefited small businesses that run ads and people who create content.
The trial is expected to play out for at least the next four weeks.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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