Google, DOJ wrap up second antitrust trial
Source: The Hill
11/25/24 6:19 PM ET
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Google wrapped up the tech giant’s second antitrust trial in two years Monday, as the company seeks to fend off monopoly allegations in the advertising technology space.
After a relatively brief two-week trial in September, the two sides reconvened in U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema’s Alexandria, Va., courtroom for closing arguments, offering competing visions of how ad tech functions and Google’s role.
“This case is about two different versions of reality,” DOJ lawyer Julia Tarver Wood said. The lawsuit, which was originally filed in 2023, centers on the tools used by website publishers and advertisers to sell and buy ad space online.
The DOJ identified three different markets — one for publishers to sell their ad space, one for advertisers to buy and place ads and one connecting publishers and advertisers. The agency argues that Google has a monopoly over all three markets. “Google is once, twice, three times a monopolist,” DOJ lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum said Monday.
Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5009192-google-ad-tech-antitrust-trial/