The Justice Department told a federal judge on Monday that Google had built a monopoly in lucrative technology that delivers online ads, kicking off a second federal antitrust trial against the tech giant amid mounting scrutiny of the industry.
Google used its acquisition in 2008 of the advertising software company DoubleClick to build its dominance in technology that auctions off ads on web pages as users visit, Julia Tarver Wood, the government’s lead trial lawyer, said in opening statements. Google now has an 87 percent market share in that ad-selling technology, allowing it to charge higher prices and take a bigger portion of each sale, she said, harming news publishers and other website owners.
Google used its size and influence to lock out competitors and rigged the rules to pad its bottom line, Ms. Wood said in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
“Google is not here because they are big,” Ms. Wood said. “They are here because they used that size to crush competition.”
The trial stems from a case — U.S. et al v. Google — that the Justice Department filed against Google last year. In its suit, the agency accused the internet giant of abusing control of its ad technology and violating antitrust law. It is the second federal antitrust trial that the Silicon Valley company has faced in a year, with a federal judge ruling in August in the other case that Google had illegally maintained a monopoly over online search. He is now considering how to resolve those concerns, which could include ordering Google to sell off parts of its business.
The cases against Google are part of a growing push by regulators to rein in Big Tech’s power, which shapes commerce, information and communication online. The Justice Department has also sued Apple, arguing it made it difficult for consumers to leave its tightly-knit universe of devices and software. The Federal Trade Commission has sued Amazon, for squeezing small businesses, and Meta, for killing rivals when it bought Instagram and WhatsApp.
The New York Times
