A look at the DOJ's and multiple states' antitrust lawsuit against Google's ad business, as its trial is set to begin on September 9

A month after losing a landmark antitrust case brought by the Department of Justice, Google is headed back to court to face off for a second time against federal prosecutors.

CNBC 2024-09-07 Jennifer Elias

Context & Ripple Effects

The September trial date follows a court-scheduled September 9 start for the DOJ and state case, moving a multiyear investigation of Google's advertising operations from filing and discovery into a public merits test.

The case is distinct from the DOJ's earlier challenge to Google and arrives after the agency and states sought a breakup of Google's ad-tech business in their 2023 complaint. That makes the proceeding a consequential test of whether enforcers can obtain structural remedies in digital-platform markets.

First-order effects

Google must defend its ad-business practices in a second federal antitrust proceeding, while the DOJ and participating states must substantiate their monopoly allegations at trial.
The trial puts the complaint's requested ad-tech breakup remedy into active litigation, but no change to Google's business structure follows unless the court ultimately rules for the plaintiffs and orders relief.

Second-order effects

Publishers, advertisers, and ad-tech intermediaries gain a clearer public record of how Google's advertising stack operates, informing their assessment of dependence on the platform and available alternatives.
A ruling against Google could force competing ad-tech firms to reassess product, partnership, and customer strategies around a potentially less integrated Google advertising business; the scope depends on any remedy.

Third-order effects

Alongside the prior DOJ case, this proceeding signals a shift from isolated conduct claims toward scrutiny of how large platforms control linked layers of digital markets.
If courts endorse structural relief, antitrust enforcement could become a more material constraint on platform integration; if not, agencies may face a higher bar for challenging complex ad-tech ecosystems.

The trend: US antitrust enforcement is increasingly testing whether dominant technology platforms' control across interconnected market layers warrants structural remedies, not only behavioral restrictions.

Discussion

@leehepner Lee Hepner on x
Detractors will treat “abuse of dominance” as some indecipherable new antitrust standard created from whole cloth, but courts are already accustomed to articulating it. This is Judge Brinkema in the Google Ad Tech case on “the essence of antitrust law”: [image]
@jenn_elias Jennifer E. on x
A month after losing a landmark antitrust case brought by the DOJ, Google is headed back to court to face off for a second time against federal prosecutors. This time, the focus is on the company's advertising tech. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@ariellesgarcia Arielle Garcia on x
Great piece by @KendraEBarnett at @TheDrum about what to expect at #USvGoogle II, which starts MONDAY! Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts. Also, lol @ the last line. https://www.thedrum.com/... [image]
@kendraebarnett Kendra Barnett on x
NEW for @TheDrum: The DOJ & Google are going head to head in a historic antitrust trial concerning the search giant's adtech business beginning Monday. Here's my overview of what we can expect to see - and key predictions from antitrust & media experts: https://www.thedrum.com/..…
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Excellent to see AdExchanger digging back in on Google adtech antitrust trial starting on Monday. Fun overview of code named projects. I just want to correct something here so others also are aware (since Google is spreading false info). ps we'll def see them get into weeds. /1 […
@kayjebelli Kay Jebelli on x
As @vidushi_law notes, helping ad-tech rivals in this way could go against the interests of advertisers and publishers, making the Google products less integrated and less helpful. It's lowest-common-denominator thinking. [image]

Chronicles