Google holds monopoly over key areas of ad tech, US judge rules

Google wields an illegal monopoly over key aspects of online advertising technology, a federal judge said Thursday. The case focused on the search giant’s dominance in three areas — display advertising networks, publisher tools and ad exchanges — with Google found in violation of the law for the latter two categories based on Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.

The decision handed down by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of Virginia follows a three-week trial and sides with the Department of Justice in wanting to rein in Google’s power over a massive digital advertising market. Brinkema in a 115-page opinion described how Google was able to combine its muscle in publisher ad servers and ad exchanges through policy and technology integration, “which enabled the company to establish and protect its monopoly power in these two markets.”

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