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Advertising The Courts Google

US Asks Judge To Break Up Google's Ad Tech Business (theguardian.com) 30

The U.S. government is seeking to break up Google's advertising technology business after a judge ruled the company holds an illegal monopoly over ad tools for publishers, marking the second such antitrust case following a similar request to divest Chrome. The Guardian reports: "We have a defendant who has found ways to defy" the law, US government lawyer Julia Tarver Wood told a federal court in Virginia, as she urged the judge to dismiss Google's assurance that it would change its behavior. "Leaving a recidivist monopolist" intact was not appropriate to solve the issue, she added. [...] The US government specifically alleged that Google controls the market for publishing banner ads on websites, including those of many creators and small news providers.

The hearing in a Virginia courtroom was scheduled to plan out the second phase of the trial, set for September, in which the parties will argue over how to fix the ad market to satisfy the judge's ruling. The plaintiffs argued in the first phase of the trial last year that the vast majority of websites use Google ad software products which, combined, leave no way for publishers to escape Google's advertising technology and pricing.

The district court judge Leonie Brinkema agreed with most of that reasoning, ruling last month that Google built an illegal monopoly over ad software and tools used by publishers, but partially dismissed the argument related to tools used by advertisers. The US government said it would use the trial to recommend that Google should spin off its ad publisher and exchange operations, as Google could not be trusted to change its ways. "Behavioral remedies are not sufficient because you can't prevent Google from finding a new way to dominate," Tarver Wood said.

Google countered that it would recommend that it agree to a binding commitment that it would share information with advertisers and publishers on its ad tech platforms. Google lawyer Karen Dunn did, however, acknowledge the "trust issues" raised in the case and said the company would accept monitoring to guarantee any commitments made to satisfy the judge. Google is also arguing that calls for divestment are not appropriate in this case, which Brinkema swiftly refused as an argument. The judge urged both sides to mediate, stressing that coming to a compromise solution would be cost-effective and more efficient than running a weeks-long trial.

US Asks Judge To Break Up Google's Ad Tech Business

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  • Get it done. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by GotNoRice ( 7207988 ) on Friday May 02, 2025 @08:31PM (#65348641)
    I'd like to see them actually do this and not just talk about it forever and pass it to yet another court.
    • Re:Get it done. (Score:4, Informative)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot@wor[ ]et ['f.n' in gap]> on Friday May 02, 2025 @09:08PM (#65348691)

      Google and Trump are in negotiations on how much Google needs to pay to make the lawsuit go away.

      It's not getting done anytime soon because the Art of the Deal means that Trump is asking Google what Google can do for Trump.

      • isn't that extortion? when the one with the power offers to make bad thing go away for a price, the reverse would be bribery where if google offers to pay a bribe to keep their racket intact
        • isn't that extortion? when the one with the power offers to make bad thing go away for a price, the reverse would be bribery where if google offers to pay a bribe to keep their racket intact

          I believe we have an official job and title for that activity that makes all of it quite legal, and without such negative terminology.

          They’re called Fucking Politicians. We used to call them Representatives back when we liked to pretend they represented The People. But it’s quite clear who lawmakers represent today. And who is paying them.

          Surprised? Don’t be. These are the same arrogant cunts who believe Insider Trading is a fucking job perk.

    • There is potential for this to work since Google's advertisement business is effectively a completely separate subdivision within the company. This is legally significant compared to the Microsoft case back in the day, where there was no legal remedy of breaking up MS that could have resolved in addressing the primary anti-trust ruling. Microsoft didn't have a separate internet targeted division at the time which could be separated from their browser work.

  • No one is forced to type google.com into their browser.
    • Except every IE/Edge, Safari and Firefox user opening it for the first time...

    • No one was forced to use Internet Explorer, except when they wanted to browse the Internet after bundled IE with Windows and drove Netscape out of business.

      No one was forced to install Windows, except when they wanted to use a PC and Microsoft was threatening PC OEMs that provided alternatives.

      No one was forced to buy a telephone line from the Bell system, so long as they didn't mind not having a telephone in the United States.

      No one was forced to lease an IBM punchcard tabulating machine, except when IBM h

      • Who's the bingus here?

        Comparing Microsoft, Google, and IBM to AT&T and Standard Oil is completely bogus.

        AT&T and especially Standard were indeed illegal monopolies. Standard, as you said, simply bought up the competition and build a vertically integrated business that made it impossible for anyone else to enter the market. AT&T built a vertical business by owning all the lines, either the long lines directly, or the local lines through the Baby Bells, and disallowing any hardware that wasn't man

  • Anti-trust should not take years. Ruling, delay, appeal, delay, ruling, delay, appeal, delay...

    Anti-trust needs to be simple and largely automatic. When a company exceeds a certain size, it should be prohibited from M&A activity. When it exceeds a certain, even larger size, it should be forced to divest. No discussions, no court proceedings.

    Have the politicians learned nothing from 2008 and "too big to fail"?

  • Just like Microsoft should have been broken up.

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