The US government is targeting Google’s biggest wealth engine – its lucrative ad technology business.
A trial starting Monday will hear the Justice Department’s allegation that search engine parent company Alphabet illegally controls the market.
Company it has earned more than $200 billion (£152bn) last year from placing and selling adverts seen by internet users.
Alphabet attributed its success to the “efficiency” of its services – but prosecutors said it used market power to squeeze its rivals.
“It’s a really important industry that captures billions of consumer dollars every year,” said Laura Phillips-Sawyer, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law.
“I think all consumers are interested in this case.”
It is the second major antitrust case the tech giant has faced in the US.
In August, the judge handed down his decision dominance in the search was illegalwith the fines that Google and Alphabet will face as a result of that decision so far.
According to the case filed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) and a coalition of states by 2023, Google dominates the digital ad market and has used its market power to stifle innovation and competition.
Google currently contends that it is one of several hundred companies that help put digital ads in front of consumers.
It argues that competition in the digital ad space is growing, not contracting — citing growth in advertising and revenue from companies like Apple, Amazon and TikTok as evidence in a blog post. in response to the DoJ case in 2023.
Both sides will present their cases to US District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who is expected to rule.
The bench trial comes after a landmark ruling last month in a separate case brought by the Justice Department against Google.
Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google acted unlawfully to reduce competition in its internet search business.
“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its independence,” he wrote.
During last year’s trial, Google said it dominated Internet search because it had a better product.
And the company appears to be using a similar defense in the ad tech case.
When asked for a statement, it referred the BBC to its 2023 blog post, where it said “no one is forced to use our advertising technology – they choose to use it because it works.”
Judge Mehta held a status conference on Friday as he begins the process of deciding on remedies for Google’s conduct.
“Obviously the DoJ has been very successful, and they’re going to ride that momentum,” Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, told the BBC.
He said he expects those remedies to include “tweaks to the business model, not a breakup” of the company.
Meanwhile, in Justice Brinkema’s courtroom, the arcane process governing advertising technology could make the DoJ’s efforts to prove its case an uphill battle.
“We all use search. “We all understand that product,” said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an associate professor at Vanderbilt University Law School.
In comparison, advertising technology “is so complex that I think that will be a real challenge for the government to present a clear and simple argument for one-man rule here.”
The US is not the only country where regulators are unhappy with Google’s ad technology business.
On Friday, the UK Competition and Markets Authority said it believed Google was abusing its dominance in the advertising industry, according to a report. the findings of its preliminary investigation.
It said it found Google was using anti-competitive practices to dominate the online advertising technology market – and the potentially illegal behavior could harm thousands of UK publishers and advertisers.
A Google representative said the decision was based on a “flawed” understanding of the ad tech industry.
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