Google faces a fresh legal battle on Monday as US government lawyers press a federal judge to order the breakup of the company’s advertising technology business, marking a pivotal test in Washington’s broader campaign against Big Tech monopolies.
The case, brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ), targets Google’s dominance over the ad tech “stack”—the tools publishers use to sell ads and advertisers use to buy them. Earlier this year, Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google maintained an illegal monopoly in this sector. The current proceedings will decide what penalties and remedies should follow.
According to court filings, the DOJ will seek the divestiture of Google’s ad publisher and exchange operations and a 10-year ban on operating an ad exchange after any spinoffs are complete. Google argues such remedies are excessive and impractical. “We’ve said from the start that DOJ’s case misunderstands how digital advertising works and ignores how the landscape has dramatically evolved, with increasing competition and new entrants,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs.
The trial’s remedy phase is expected to last about a week, with closing arguments set for later this year. The case comes just weeks after the European Commission fined Google €2.95 billion ($3.47 billion) over its ad tech dominance, though regulators in Brussels opted for behavioral changes instead of forcing a breakup—drawing criticism that the EU had gone soft after earlier signals of stronger action.
Google is also fresh off a courtroom victory in a separate US antitrust trial focused on its search monopoly. In that case, another judge rejected government demands that Google divest its Chrome browser, instead ordering the company to share data with rivals. Alphabet shares surged more than 20% following that ruling. Judge Brinkema has indicated she will consider the outcome of the search trial when weighing remedies in the ad tech case.
The proceedings are one of five pending antitrust cases the US government is pursuing against major technology companies, underscoring a bipartisan push to rein in the power of Silicon Valley giants.
