A U.S. federal court ruled that Google had illegally monopolized key digital advertising markets, including publisher ad servers, ad exchanges, and advertiser ad networks. This ruling could deal a major blow to Google's core business pillar: advertising revenue (advertising accounted for about 77.4% of Google's total revenue in 2023).

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema found on Thursday morning that Google had violated antitrust law by "willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power in the open-web display publisher ad server market and the open-web display ad exchange market."  

Here are the key findings in the landmark antitrust case (U.S. v. Google, 23-cv-00108, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria):  

Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power in:

• The open-web display publisher ad server market, and

• The open-web display ad exchange market Google also violated Sections 1 and 2 by unlawfully tying its publisher ad server (DoubleClick for Publishers/DFP) to its ad exchange (AdX). The court did not find that

Google held monopoly power in the third alleged market: advertiser ad networks.

Legal and Procedural Notes:

• The DOJ and 17 states originally brought the suit, accusing Google of monopolizing three key ad tech markets.

• Google had earlier tried to dismiss the case and transfer it to New York but failed.

• The court conducted a three-week bench trial and reviewed extensive expert testimony and evidence.

This case is one of several antitrust actions pending against Google. In a separate lawsuit, the Justice Department seeks to force Alphabet to divest its Chrome browser following a landmark ruling that found the company had monopolized the online search market.

"Google will be drastically reshaped by court decrees in the next year or two," The Information said, adding, "Google will likely be forced, as a result of today's decision, to dismantle much of its ad tech business which dominates both how advertisers buy ads on independent websites, and how web publishers sell their ad space." 

Here are the next steps for Google, and it appears the court will be deciding on potential remedies: 

• Google was found liable on Counts I, II, and IV, violating Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. Count III was dismissed.

• The court will set a schedule for briefing and hearings to determine remedies, potentially including divestiture of DFP and AdX, injunctions against anticompetitive practices, and other measures to restore competition.

• The ruling highlights Google's decade-long strategy of tying products and imposing exclusionary policies to maintain dominance in digital advertising, harming publishers, competition, and consumers. 

Market response:  

• Alphabet shares fell as much as 3.2% after the ruling.

• Competitor The Trade Desk's stock jumped nearly 8%, reflecting investor optimism about improved competition in the ad tech space.

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