US-Google face off as ad tech antitrust trial comes to close
The case focuses on ad technology for the open web – the complex system determining which online ads people see when they surf the internet
Google and the US government faced off in a federal court on Monday, as each side delivered closing arguments in a case revolving around the technology giant’s alleged unfair domination of online advertising.
The trial in a Virginia federal court is Google’s second US antitrust case now under way as the US government tries to rein in the power of big tech.
In a separate trial, a Washington judge ruled that Google’s search business is an illegal monopoly, and the US Justice Department is asking that Google sell its Chrome browser business to resolve the case.
The latest case, also brought by the Justice Department, focuses on ad technology for the open web – the complex system determining which online ads people see when they surf the internet.
The vast majority of websites use a trio of Google ad software products that together, leave no way for publishers to escape Google’s advertising technology, the plaintiffs allege.
Publishers – including News Corp and Gannett publishing – complain that they are locked into Google’s advertising technology to run ads on their websites.
