Google fights potential ad tech breakup in U.S. antitrust trial
As part of its case, the U.S. government is also pushing for Google to make the auction mechanism that determines winning ads open-source.
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Tech giant Google is seeking to avoid a forced sale of part of its online advertising business as it faces off against U.S. antitrust enforcers in a trial that began September 22 in Alexandria, Virginia, according to a Reuters report.
As part of its case, the U.S. government is also pushing for Google to make the auction mechanism that determines winning ads open-source. Julia Tarver Wood, an attorney with the Justice Department’s antitrust division, argued that requiring Google to sell its AdX platform is necessary to restore competition. The move follows a ruling by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who found that Google illegally tied AdX to its publisher ad server — a tool used by websites to manage digital ad inventory.
In response, Google attorney Karen Dunn called the DOJ’s proposals “radical and reckless,” claiming they would harm competition by removing Google from the market.
The company has urged Judge Brinkema to follow the lead of a Washington, D.C. judge, who recently rejected most of the DOJ’s proposals in a separate case concerning Google’s dominance in online search. Wood countered that the ad tech case is fundamentally different, noting that Chrome — central to the search case — was merely a distribution method, not part of the monopoly itself.
Google argues the DOJ’s proposal is technically unworkable and would create prolonged uncertainty for both advertisers and publishers.
Notably, Google had previously offered to sell AdX during private negotiations to settle a separate EU antitrust investigation. Internal studies related to that potential sale could be presented as evidence during the trial.
