Google is monopolist in online advertising tech, judge rules

A federal judge has ruled that Alphabet's Google Google illegally monopolized key segments of the online advertising technology market.

Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a ruling Thursday that Google broke the law to secure its dominance over the largely invisible system of technology that places advertisements on pages across the web.

"Plaintiffs have proven that Google has willfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising," Judge Brinkema wrote in her ruling. "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."

The decision marks the second major antitrust win for U.S. government against Google in less than a year. The first happening in August 2024 when a federal judge ruled that Google had an illegal monopoly on search.

The latest ruling focuses on a $31 billion segment of Google's ad business that matches website publishers with advertisers. The Department of Justice and 17 state attorneys general brought the case against Alphabet in 2023, alleging Google had a monopoly in ad technology that allowed the company to charge higher prices and take a larger portion of each transaction. The DOJ has argued Google should be forced to divest parts of its business, including Google Ad Manager, which comprises the company's publisher ad server and ad exchange.

Though the case was brought under the previous administration, current Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the ruling on Thursday.

"This is a landmark victory in the ongoing fight to stop Google from monopolizing the digital public square," Bondi said in a statement. "This Department of Justice will continue taking bold legal action to protect the American people from encroachments on free speech and free markets by tech companies."

While this decision could force Google to sell part of its ad tech business, the court rejected the DOJ's claim relating to an argument that Google had operated a monopoly in ad networks.

"We won half of this case and we will appeal the other half," Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's vice president for regulatory affairs, said in a statement. "The Court found that our advertiser tools and our acquisitions, such as DoubleClick, don't harm competition. We disagree with the Court's decision regarding our publisher tools. Publishers have many options and they choose Google because our ad tech tools are simple, affordable and effective."

Google argues that the judge relied on interpretations of Supreme Court precedent that conflict with longstanding legal consensus, according to a Google representative.

The court will set a briefing schedule and hearing date to determine the appropriate remedies for the violation.

With this new ruling, Google is now facing the possibility of two different U.S. courts ordering it to sell assets or change its business practices. Regarding Google's other antitrust violation on search, a trial will be held next week in Washington on the DOJ's request proposing that Google sell its Chrome browser and take additional steps to end its dominance in online search.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.