Federal prosecutors have opened their second monopoly case against Google in a case that could benefit major news organizations that pay the internet giant a cut of their ad revenues for its website ad brokering services.
The Justice Department claims that Google is abusing its power over online advertising, resulting in advertisers being forced to pay higher prices while publishers earn less money, meaning cuts in news and other content readers want, reports The Washington Post Tuesday.
In its complaint, the DOJ claims Google dominated its competition "by engaging in a systematic campaign to seize control of the wide swath of high-tech tools used by publishers, advertisers, and brokers, to facilitate digital advertising."
According to the DOJ, Google takes at least 30 cents "of each advertising dollar flowing from advertisers to website publishers through Google's ad tech tools ... and sometimes far more," reports Ars Technica.
Major media companies such as Gannett and News Corp. have been hit hard by Google's control over the online ads sector, reports The Post.
The DOJ is calling for a divestment of Google's Ad Manager suite, which is responsible for ads at the tops and sides of many web pages.
Prosecutors are claiming that Google has come to dominate the ad market by buying out its rivals until it topped the online market.
The company further owns an exchange that sits between buyers and sellers, allowing it to keep at least 30 cents out of each advertising dollar.
Google, though, says its customers prefer dealing with one company out of convenience. Justice Department attorney Julia Tarver Wood, in opening arguments before Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Monday, said Google has obtained acquisitions that have allowed it to dominate the sector while manipulating ad auction rules to benefit itself.
Google denied the DOJ allegations, telling Brinkema that "success is not illegal" and that customers choose its company instead of other competitors because it offers the best services.
In a blog warning Sunday, Google said that attempts to break up its ad business could rattle customers.
"Google's ad tech fees are actually lower than reported industry averages — hardly a sign of monopoly abuse," the company claimed.
Karen Dunn, the tech giant's lead attorney, said in her opening statements that the company pushed the sector through investments in research and development but is "intensely competing" among other companies, including large names like Microsoft and Disney.
She added that the market for online ad sales grew from $8 billion in 2008 to $140 billion in 2022.
A DOJ win would benefit Google's rivals, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and TikTok which are "all ascendant while Google's share is falling," said Dunn.
Wood said prosecutors plan to call executives from USA Today, WSJ parent company News Corp., and The Daily Mail, among others to testify.
Google has lost two antitrust suits this year.
In August, a federal court in Washington, D.C., ruled the company holds an illegal monopoly for online searches.
In addition, a San Francisco jury last December declared Google's app store as an illegal monopoly, ruling in a case brought by Epic Games.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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