STORY: Google illegally dominates two markets for online advertising technology. That was the ruling by a U.S. district judge on Thursday (April 17). The verdict says Google is guilty of maintaining monopolies over ad servers for publishers, and the ad exchanges that sit between buyers and sellers. Now the decision clears the way for another hearing on what the tech giant must do to restore competition. That could see it forced to sell off some operations.Michael Ashley Schulman is chief investment officer at Running Point Capital: “It marks a watershed moment for big tech regulation and raises real risks of a breakup of Google’s ad business. There’s been talk of a break up of Alphabet itself, but now we’re diving deeper into Alphabet, into Google’s ad business, and signals that U.S. courts are now open to structural remedies, not just fines.”Google rejected all suggestions it operates a monopoly, and said it would appeal the ruling. But Thursday’s verdict was the second to say it operates an illegal monopoly. It follows a similar judgement in a case over online search. That could see it forced to sell its Chrome internet browser. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the new ruling a “landmark victory” in the fight to stop Google monopolizing the digital public square. She said her department would keep taking legal action to stop tech firms harming free speech and free markets.Read More
Judge rules Google operates illegal monopoly in ad tech
