A US court has set a date for its court battle against Google. The Department of Justice (DOJ) will hear the search engine’s case on 22 September and decide whether or not to end its advertising technology dominance.
As a quick primer, the DOJ is seeking a court order to force Google to divest key parts of its advertising tech operations. This includes key parts of its ad exchange and publisher ad server. The court found in an earlier hearing that Google had unlawfully maintained a monopoly by tying its publisher ad server with its own ad exchange, a place in which advertisers bid for space on the search engine. To put it in another way, they’re paying to have their site appear on the first page of any relevant searches.
That said, the presiding judge of said that the court did not find Google holding a monopoly over advertiser-facing tools,.
The DOJ’s proposed remedy is to apply a “phased” dismantling of Google’s business, and for the search engine to sell off both its ad exchange and publisher ad server businesses. A process that the DOJ says would take years to complete.
Not surprising, Google is opposed to the DOJ’s break up of its assets, and has argued that the latter’s demand exceeds the court’s finding, while also lacking a legal basis. In any case, we’ll just have to wait until 22 September to find out the Alphabet-owned entity’s fate.
