Latest news with #Brinkema
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The fate of Google's search empire is now up to a judge
Google's (GOOG, GOOGL) massive search empire faces its largest existential threat as US District Judge Amit Mehta prepares to decide whether to splinter the company's most lucrative business as part of its antitrust trial. Mehta heard closing arguments from both Google and the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the remedies phase of the antitrust case, during which the sides argued against and for dramatic changes to the company, respectively. The Justice Department prevailed in the initial liability phase of the trial, with Mehta finding that Google violated antitrust laws in the markets for 'general search' and 'general search text' ads, advertisements that appear at the top of search results pages. During the remedy phase, the DOJ argued that Mehta should force Google to sell off its Chrome browser, share its search data with rivals, and kill its exclusivity agreements that secure Google as the default search engine on mobile devices and web browsers. Google has already said it will appeal the initial finding that it operates as an illegal monopoly, but the process could take years before the company and the DOJ reach a final resolution. Google still has to contend with another antitrust trial that has reached the remedies phase related to its online advertising technology business. US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema also found Google liable in that case, which the Justice Department brought against the company, in April. In that case, Brinkema found that the DOJ proved Google held and abused its monopoly power in the markets for publisher ad servers and ad exchanges for open-web display advertising. But Brinkema found that the DOJ failed to establish a relevant market for advertising networks, the third leg in the department's case against Google. If Mehta agrees with the DOJ's proposals, Google would have to fundamentally change much of its current search business. Its Chrome browser is the most popular web browser in the world, thanks to its inclusion in Android phones, which make up the majority of smartphones globally. Losing Chrome, which uses Google as its default search engine, could cut Google off from its users. Forcing the company to end its exclusivity contracts with other tech firms would also impact Google and its partners. Google, for example, has an agreement with Apple (AAPL) that sees Google pay Apple $20 billion a year in exchange for Apple using Google as the default search engine in its Safari browser. In 2024, Apple reported full-year Services revenue of $96.1 billion. Slashing $20 billion from that would take a significant chunk out of Apple's bottom line. Google has argued that the DOJ's recommended remedies go too far and that they'll only help competitors like Microsoft and its Bing search engine while hurting device makers, forcing them to raise prices for consumers. Lingering in the background is the continued evolution of generative AI and its impact on the search market. The DOJ initially filed its suit in 2020, three years before ChatGPT upended the tech industry, creating new competitors like ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, and Anthropic's own Claude search bot. During the search antitrust trial, Apple senior vice president of services Eddy Cue said search queries in Apple's Safari browser were down for the first time in April, adding that he believed users were moving their queries to generative AI apps. Google, however, disputed the claim, saying that it continues to see growth across its products, including on iOS devices. The company has also released its own competing generative AI offerings, including AI Overviews, which appear at the top of its search results page, and AI Mode, a new feature similar to ChatGPT that allows users to interact with Google via a chatbot interface. Mehta is expected to provide his findings in the remedies hearing in August. In the meantime, Google also has to prepare for the remedies hearings in its advertising trial. Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on X @alexiskweed. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
1News
07-05-2025
- Business
- 1News
US expands attempt to break up Google with an adtech teardown
The US Justice Department is doubling down on its attempt to break up Google by asking a federal judge to force the company to part with some of the technology powering the company's digital ad network. The proposed dismantling coincides with an ongoing federal effort to separate Google's Chrome browser from its dominant search engine. The US government's latest proposal was filed in a Virginia federal court two-and-a-half weeks after a federal judge ruled that its lucrative digital ad network has been improperly abusing its market power to stifle competition to the detriment of online publishers. In a 17-page filing, Justice Department lawyers argued that US District Judge Leonie Brinkema should punish Google by ordering the company to offload its AdX business and DFP ad platform, tools that bring together advertisers, who want to market their products, and publishers, who want to sell commercial space on their sites, to bring in revenue. The US government is also seeking other restrictions, including a 10-year ban on Google from operating a digital ad exchange, to undercut the power of a 'recidivist monopolist.' Not surprisingly, it's an idea that Google vehemently plans to oppose when the penalty phase of the antitrust case —known as remedy hearings — begins in late September. Google already has vowed to appeal Brinkema's ruling that the technology powering the ad network has been breaking the law, but can't do that until the judge rules on its punishment in a decision expected late this year or early next year. The Justice Department's proposal 'would cause economic chaos and technological dysfunction resulting in harm to millions of advertisers and publishers, and in so doing, degrade the experience of internet users,' Google said in a court filing late Monday. In its counterproposal, Google outlined a plan that it believes will bring more transparency to its ad network and eventually foster more competition. Google proposed the appointment of a trustee to oversee its behaviour for three years. The attempt to tear down Google's ad network comes on top of the Justice Department's ongoing effort to have the company part with its popular Chrome browser and impose other restrictions to curtail the power of its ubiquitous search engine, which another federal judge branded an illegal monopoly in a ruling last August. The remedy hearings in the search case are scheduled to conclude later this month, with a ruling from US District Judge Amit Mehta expected by Labor Day. If the Justice Department is able to persuade the two different judges to order its proposed dismantling of Google, it would be the biggest breakup of a US company since AT&T was forced to spin off its phone service into seven separate regional companies more than 40 years ago. Google's Play Store for apps running on its Android software that powers most of the world's smartphones was also declared an illegal monopoly by a federal jury in 2023 and is battling a judge's order that would require it to overhaul a commission system that generates billions of dollars in annual revenue. But hobbling its search engine and digital ad network would be far bigger blows because they are the key cogs in a business that generated US$265 billion in revenue last year. Google is confronting the breakup threats at the same time the advent of artificial intelligence is changing the way consumers are using technology and seeking information online — a shift that could also siphon traffic and money away from a powerhouse that began in a Silicon Valley garage in 1998. Despite the adversity, Google is still delivering robust financial growth to its corporate parent Alphabet Inc., which is currently valued at US$2 trillion. Alphabet's share dipped by less than 1% on Tuesday to close at US$163.20.
Ammon
07-05-2025
- Business
- Ammon
U.S. seeks breakup of Google's ad-tech products after judge finds illegal monopoly
Ammon News - The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed that Google sell its AdX digital ad marketplace and DFP platform for managing and delivering ads on websites, after a federal judge found the company illegally dominated two online ad-tech markets. The proposed remedies, including divestitures, are necessary to end the Alphabet-owned tech giant's monopolies and restore competition in the ad-exchange and publisher ad-server markets, the DOJ said in a court filing late on Monday. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia last month found Google liable for "willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power" in those two markets. The ruling was another blow for Google after a separate judge found last year that Google held an illegal monopoly in online search. Brinkema set a September trial date on Friday, after hearing from Google and the DOJ on potential remedies for the company's dominance in ad tools used by online publishers. Google has said the company supported behavioural remedies such as making real-time bids available to competitors, but that prosecutors cannot legally pursue a bid to force it to sell parts of its business. "The DOJ's additional proposals to force a divestiture of our ad tech tools go well beyond the Court's findings, have no basis in law, and would harm publishers and advertisers," Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's vice president of Regulatory Affairs, said in a statement to Reuters. Shares of Alphabet were down nearly 1.1% in premarket trading on Tuesday. AdX, or Ad Exchange, is a marketplace where publishers can make their unsold ad space available to advertisers for purchase on a real-time basis. Publisher ad servers are platforms used by websites to store and manage their digital ad inventory. Along with ad exchanges, the technology lets news publishers and other online content providers make money by selling ads.
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Business Standard
07-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
US moves to dismantle Google's ad technology in major antitrust push
Google said in its own filing that divestiture of AdX and DFP wouldn't be technically feasible because neither piece of technology is capable of working outside of Google's proprietary infrastructure AP Washington The US Justice Department is doubling down on its attempt to break up Google by asking it to give up the underlying technology powering the company's digital ad network. The proposed remedy joins a separate federal effort to separate the Chrome browser from its dominant search engine. The government's latest proposal was filed late Monday in a Virginia federal court two-and-half weeks after a federal judge ruled that parts of its lucrative digital ad network have been improperly abusing its market power to stifle competition to the detriment of online publishers. In a 17-page filing, Justice Department lawyers argued that US District Judge Leonie Brinkema should punish Google by ordering the company to offload its AdX business and DFP ad platform, tools that bring together advertisers, who want to market their products, and publishers, who want to sell commercial space on their sites, to bring in revenue. Not surprisingly, it's an idea that Google vehemently plans to oppose when the penalty phase of the antitrust case known as remedy hearings begins in late September. Google already has vowed to appeal Brinkema's ruling that the technology powering the ad network has been breaking the law, but can't do that until the judge rules on its punishment in a decision expected late this year or early next year. Google said in its own filing Monday that divestiture of AdX and DFP wouldn't be technically feasible because neither piece of technology is capable of working outside of Google's proprietary infrastructure. The company proposed its own remedies to restore competition, and reiterated its intent to appeal the ruling. Divestiture is not as simple as selling either the AdX or DFP source code to a willing buyer, Google wrote. The attempt to tear down Google's ad network comes on top of the Justice Department's ongoing effort to have the company part with its popular Chrome browser and impose other restrictions to curtail the power of its ubiquitous search engine, which another federal judge branded an illegal monopoly in a ruling last August. The remedy hearings in the search case are scheduled to conclude later this month, with a ruling from US District Judge Amit Mehta expected by Labour Day. If the Justice Department is able to persuade the two different judges to order its proposed dismantling of Google, it would be the biggest breakup of a US company since AT&T was forced to spin off its phone service into seven separate regional companies more than 40 years ago. Google's Play Store for apps running on its Android software that powers most of the world's smartphones also was declared an illegal monopoly by a federal jury in 2023 and is battling a judge's order that would require it to overhaul a commission system that generates billions of dollars in annual revenue. But hobbling its search engine and digital ad network would be far bigger blows because they are the key cogs in a business that generated USD 265 billion in revenue last year. Google is confronting the breakup threats at the same time the advent of artificial intelligence is changing the way consumers are using technology and seeking information online a shift that could also siphon traffic and money away from a powerhouse that began in a Silicon Valley garage in 1998. Despite the adversity, Google is still delivering robust financial growth to its corporate parent Alphabet Inc., which is currently valued at USD 2 trillion.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOJ proposes breakup of Google's ad tech products
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is proposing Google sell two of its advertising products following a judge's ruling that the tech giant illegally acquired and maintained a monopoly in the ad tech sector. In a late-night filing Monday, the DOJ urged a Virginia federal court judge to order Google to divest its AdX exchange business and conduct a 'phased' sale of its DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), a platform bringing together publishers. The proposal comes just weeks after U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema found Google had a monopoly over two separate markets in the ad tech space, which helps connect publishers selling ad spaces online to advertisers. 'Plaintiffs have proven that Google has willfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising,' Brinkema wrote in her ruling last month. In a response filing Monday evening, Google argued the sale of AdX and DFP is not 'logistically unworkable,' maintaining the products will not work outside of Google's proprietary software. The technology company said building an equivalent of AdX or DFP to operate outside of Google with a third party would take 'at the very minimum five years,' but likely more time. 'By the time the new versions are created, the place and competitiveness of those tools in the highly dynamic ad tech industry may well be completely different than when divestiture was first ordered,' the company wrote. Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's vice president of regulatory affairs, said Tuesday the DOJ's proposed remedies 'go significantly beyond' the court's ruling. 'This would risk breaking a tool advertisers use to connect with publishers and efficiently reach their customers, and that app and video publishers use to monetize their content — businesses that aren't even part of the narrow market of 'open web display ads' at issue in this case,' she wrote in a blog post. Instead, Google is proposing changes to 'minimize disruption,' such as making real-time bids for ads from AdX available to competitor ad servers. In court last September, the government alleged Google used acquisitions and tied products together to eliminate competition and create dominance over online advertising. Google, meanwhile, argued there was one, unified market for ad tech that extended beyond online ads to include those on apps, social media and connected television. The tech firm argued it still faces competition from other companies like Microsoft, Meta, TikTok and Amazon. Brinkema largely sided with the DOJ on the layout of markets in the ad tech space, finding a publisher market and an ad exchange market connecting publishers and advertisers. Still, Google declared a partial victory last month, saying it 'won half of this case and we will appeal the other half.' Brinkema sided with Google in finding there is no separate advertiser market for online ads and determining the company's 2008 acquisition of DoubleClick and 2011 acquisition of Admeld were not anticompetitive. 'The Court found that our advertiser tools and our acquisitions, such as DoubleClick, don't harm competition,' Mulholland said in a statement at the time. 'We disagree with the Court's decision regarding our publisher tools,' Mulholland added. 'Publishers have many options and they choose Google because our ad tech tools are simple, affordable and effective.' Google and DOJ will face off in court in September for remedy hearings. The technology company is facing a separate federal ruling that the company held a monopoly over online search. The DOJ is seeking to break up the company in that case, asking the court to force Google to divest from its Chrome web browser, in addition to sharing its search data and syndication with rivals. The remedies hearing in that case is ongoing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
