Report from the TechCrunch
In Brief – The US Department of Justice has informed the federal judge that recently ruled that Google was guilty of “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in the digital ad space that it would ask that Google be forced to sell two major parts of its ad tech business. The DOJ wants Google to sell AdX, its ad exchange product, straightaway, while carrying out a “phased” sale of DoubleClick for Publishers. The agency also wants Google blocked from operating an ad exchange for 10 years and to open its ad buying tools, including AdWords, to work equally well with third-party ad tech products. The DOJ filing says that the comprehensive set of remedies “is necessary to terminate Google’s monopolies, deny Google the fruits of its violations, reintroduce competition into the ad exchange and publisher ad server markets, and guard against reoccurrence in the future.” Google opposes breaking up its advertising business and said in its own filing to US District Judge Leonie Brinkema that doing so would “go well beyond the Court’s findings, have no basis in law, and would harm publishers and advertisers.” The company proposed a more limited set of conduct remedies and has indicated it would appeal Judge Brinkema’s initial decision after the remedies trial, which is set to begin on September 22.
Context – Google is on an antitrust losing streak. Federal Judge Amit Mehta found that Google has a monopoly in general internet search and that its uses of overly long business deals with phone makers, especially Apple and Samsung, preferencing Google Search, were illegal. Google must have taken heart last fall when candidate Donald Trump expressed reticence about breaking up the company, but that’s long past as his DOJ has been pressing Mehta to force Google to sell its Chrome browser in the search case’s remedies trial that wraps up this week. Like with the DOJ’s ad tech business breakup plan, Google argues that a massive, forced divestiture far exceeds the monopoly law violations and would harm online users. Judge Mehta is expected to issue his remedy decision in August and Google’s appeal will proceed from there.