Judge Rules Google Abused Power in Online Advertising Market

Judge Rules Google Abused Power in Online Advertising Market/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ A federal judge ruled that Google has illegally monopolized digital advertising technology, marking the tech giant’s second major antitrust loss in less than a year. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema concluded Google used its market dominance to suppress competition and inflate its own profits. The decision sets the stage for a possible forced divestiture of key Google ad tools.

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Google Ad Tech Monopoly – Quick Look

• A U.S. judge ruled that Google illegally monopolized the digital advertising ecosystem.
• This marks Google’s second antitrust loss in under a year, after its search engine case.
• The decision focuses on Google’s Ad Manager and its dominance across ad-serving tools.
• DOJ seeks remedies including possible divestiture of Google’s Ad Manager and ad exchange.
• Google plans to appeal, insisting publishers still have many options in the ad tech market.
• The verdict follows a trial involving testimony from major publishers like Gannett and News Corp.
• A separate penalty hearing for Google’s search business begins Monday in Washington, D.C.
• The tech giant’s total value remains around $1.8 trillion, under increasing regulatory scrutiny.

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Google’s Ad Tech Business Ruled an Illegal Monopoly in Landmark Antitrust Decision

DEEP LOOKS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Google has once again been found guilty of antitrust violations, this time for its digital advertising empire, which a federal judge ruled Thursday constitutes an illegal monopoly that harms both online publishers and fair market competition.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, based in Virginia, issued a sweeping 115-page ruling concluding that Google used its dominant market position in online advertising technology to suppress rivals, extract inflated profits, and force dependence among web publishers.

“For over a decade, Google has tied its publisher ad server and ad exchange together… enabling the company to establish and protect its monopoly,” Brinkema wrote.

The ruling follows a similar antitrust defeat for Google in August 2024, when a Washington, D.C., court found the company’s search engine practices illegal, setting the stage for potential structural remedies, including a proposed divestiture of Google Chrome.

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What’s Next for Google? Penalty Hearings and Potential Breakup

Brinkema’s ruling does not immediately mandate a breakup, but it opens the door to dramatic remedies. The Justice Department is expected to push for a forced sale of Google’s Ad Manager tools and its ad exchange, key components of its $1.8 trillion digital empire.

The penalty phase in this ad tech case is likely to begin later this year or in early 2026, while similar hearings for the search monopoly case are already scheduled to begin Monday in D.C., under Judge Amit Mehta.

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Google’s Digital Advertising Machine, Under the Microscope

The heart of the case lies in the ad tech stack that Google built over 17 years—largely through acquisitions starting with the $3.2 billion purchase of DoubleClick in 2008. That platform evolved into a three-pronged system:

1. Tools publishers use to sell space on websites
2. Tools advertisers use to bid on those spaces
3. Real-time exchanges that match buyers and sellers in milliseconds

The DOJ argued—and Brinkema agreed—that Google used its dominance in all three layers to manipulate prices, block competition, and lock publishers into its ecosystem.

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Publishers Testify to Revenue Losses and Lack of Choice

At trial, witnesses from major publishers like Gannett and News Corp. testified that they had no real alternatives to Google’s ad stack and that its practices had cut deeply into their advertising revenues.

The Justice Department framed the case as a threat to the free press, noting that news outlets rely on advertising to offer journalism without paywalls. Prosecutors said Google’s behavior undermines revenue streams for critical content providers.

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Google Pushes Back, Plans Appeal

In response to the ruling, Google vowed to appeal, dismissing the judge’s findings as flawed.

“We disagree with the Court’s decision regarding our publisher tools,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s VP of Regulatory Affairs. “Publishers choose our products because they are simple, affordable, and effective.”

Google’s legal team previously argued that the DOJ had defined the market too narrowly, ignoring the rise of Meta (Facebook), Amazon, Microsoft, and others in a more diversified digital advertising landscape.

One lawyer for Google likened the DOJ’s case to a “time capsule filled with a BlackBerry, iPod, and Blockbuster card”—arguing that the ad market today is far more complex and competitive than the government portrayed.

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AI, Antitrust, and What Comes Next

This ruling also comes as Google aggressively expands into artificial intelligence (AI)—a sector that some critics fear may soon become the next arena for monopolistic behavior. Regulators may now scrutinize how Google is using AI to further consolidate power, especially in tools that power search, content recommendations, and advertising personalization.

Though Google’s market valuation remains high, investor uncertainty could grow as the company faces increasing pressure to split off or scale back core assets, especially with multiple federal cases in motion.

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Bipartisan Pressure on Big Tech Grows

The digital advertising case began under President Joe Biden in 2023, but the broader antitrust scrutiny of Google started during President Donald Trump’s administration, which launched the search engine monopoly lawsuit in 2020.

That bipartisan trajectory indicates continued government pressure regardless of who holds power in Washington.

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