Final round of arms in second trial against Google, focused on advertising

Photo: Drew Angerer Getty Images via Agence France-Presse The US government accuses Google of controlling the market for banner ads on websites.

Alex Pigman – Agence France-Presse in Alexandria

Posted at 7:29 p.m.

• United States

The U.S. government and Google filed closing arguments Monday in a Justice Department lawsuit over abuse of dominance in online advertising, the tech giant's second major legal front.

In a separate trial, a jury in a federal court in Washington has already found Google guilty of anticompetitive practices in Internet search.

Before the judge rules on the sentence in 2025, the American authorities recommended in particular that the Mountain View (California) group divest itself of its Chrome browser.

As part of the procedure on online advertising, the Joe Biden administration is also demanding divestments to limit its dominance.

On Monday, each party used the 90 minutes allotted to it to present its arguments to the federal judge in Alexandria (Virginia) Leonie Brinkema, at the end of a trial without a jury that lasted three weeks in September.

The magistrate indicated that she would deliver her judgment in a short time, a decision being expected as early as December. It could be the subject of an appeal, or even, later, a referral to the Supreme Court.

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The US government accuses Google in particular of controlling the market for banner ads on websites, including those of many media outlets, and of taking advantage of this to charge artificially high prices and share revenue unfairly.

According to the prosecution, the group relies on three advertising management software programs considered essential by the majority of websites.

“Google has a triple monopoly,” Justice Department representative Aaron Teitelbaum argued in court on this subject.

“This technology may be modern, but [Google's] practices are as old as the hills,” government representative Julia Tarver Wood declared at the opening of the trial.

The Justice Department argued that Google has used its financial resources to buy up many competitors and consolidate its dominant position.

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“Winners and losers”

Google lawyer Karen Dunn denounced a misinterpretation of law by the Justice Department, which aims to choose “winners and losers” in the online advertising market.

The company says the case is based on an outdated version of the Internet, ignoring today’s environment, where ads are also placed in search results, mobile apps and social media.

This new landscape is more conducive to competition, according to Google.

But for the Justice Department, ads in search results, apps and social media “are a different issue,” Teitelbaum said.

Karen Dunn argued that an adverse ruling would benefit other tech heavyweights, such as Microsoft, Meta and Amazon, whose market share is already “growing while Google’s market share is falling.”

Google’s defense also says the department’s legal reasoning runs counter to precedent in the field of competition.

If Google were found guilty, the proceedings would enter a new adversarial phase in preparation for sentencing.

The outcome of the case could also be determined by the future administration of Donald Trump, which would have the option of not pursuing Google, which would cancel the proceedings.

The president-elect had suggested in October that he was not in favor of breaking up Google, which would penalize the United States on the international stage.