Court rules Google has illegal monopoly in ad sales
A federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, ruled that Google’s advertising technology unit is an illegal monopoly, in the second of two Justice Department antitrust cases against the tech giant., reports The Washington Post.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia comes as an additional blow for Google, states The Post, which last year lost another federal monopoly case filed by the Justice Department against its search engine and faces antitrust pressure in the European Union.
The Alexandria case revolves around the major role Google plays in brokering the sale of online advertisements to news outlets and other website operators.
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit with a group of state attorneys general in early 2023, accusing Google of having “rigged the rules of auctions” for online ads, to the detriment of web publishers, advertisers and general consumers.
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