Google Declared An Illegal Monopoly For The Second Time In A Year, Digital Ad Network Under Fire

• A federal judge ruled Google's online advertising business an illegal monopoly on April 17
• The verdict is the second time the courts have found the company guilty of breaking antitrust laws in the last year
• Google plans to appeal the ruling, arguing that the court is basing its arguments on frameworks that are no longer relevant

Google's ad services are an illegal monopoly, according to a ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema. The decision, which was handed down April 17, is the second antitrust ruling against the company in the last year. In her opinion, the judge ruled that the company's ad business, which matches website publishers with advertisers and determines which banner ads appear on which sites across the web, has violated antitrust law.

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"For over a decade, Google has tied its publisher ad server and ad exchange together through contractual policies and technological integration, which enabled the company to establish and protect its monopoly power in these two markets," Brinkema wrote in her 115-page ruling.  Continuing, "Google further entrenched its monopoly power by imposing anti-competitive policies on its customers and eliminating desirable product features."

According to the Associated Press, the construction of the monopolizing ad system began back in 2008, when Google bought online ad specialist DoubleClick for $3.2 billion. At the time, U.S. regulators approved the purchase. Now, they've realized that move enabled the company to manipulate ad prices.

The Justice Department argued that Google controls all three corners of the digital ad market— one side that allows website publishers to sell ad space on their websites, the other is the technology that advertisers use to get their ads in front of viewers, and the third is the ad exchanges that conduct automated auctions that connect buyers and sellers.

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Google has said it plans to appeal the ruling. "Publishers have many options and they choose Google because our ad tech tools are simple, affordable and effective," Lee-Anne Mulholand, the company's vice president of regulatory affairs, the media reports.

According to the AP, the company's lawyers argued that the government is basing its case on antiquated concepts that were relevant a decade ago, but are no longer a good framework for understanding the highly competitive market for advertising that exists currently.  

The decision marks the Justice Department's second victory over the tech giant in a year. Last August, US District Judge Amit Mehta, ruled that Google held an illegal monopoly on search. In that ruling, the judge said that the company's exclusive contracts, which secured them the spot as the No. 1 search engine on smartphones and web browsers, violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. And back in 2023, a federal jury found the Google app store to be an illegal monopoly.

The cases are expected to play out over the next several years as Google appeals the decisions. 

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