Alphabet Inc. is scheduled to appear in court on Monday in Alexandria, Virginia, to defend itself against a major antitrust lawsuit filed by the U. S. Department of Justice. The trial will focus on Google’s alleged actions aimed at suppressing competition in online advertising. This is the second major battle that Google has had with the Justice Department in the recent past.
According to the prosecutors, Google has continued to dominate and exert a lot of control over the ad tech landscape and has processed over 150,000 ad transactions per second. They allege that the firm engaged in a vast conspiracy to control the digital advertising market by buying up competitors, engaging in restrictive agreements, and fixating prices of ad auctions.
Google denies allegations and defends its actions as legal
In response, Google has come out to refute these claims saying that it operates within the law and with the aim of enhancing its services and meeting the customers’ needs. If the judge presiding over the case, Leonie Brinkema, agrees that the defendant violated the law, then the issue of sell-off will be addressed. This means that Google will be selling Google Ad Manager which consists of the ad exchange and the publisher ad server.
Court documents show that in 2020, according to the Wedbush report, Ad managers represented 4.1% of Google revenue and 1.5% of operating profit. Ad tech tools similarly accounted for 11% and 2.6%, respectively. Some figures, however, have been removed from court records in recent times.
Karen Dunn, partner at the law firm Paul Weiss, leads the Google defense team. Dunn has, in the past, represented some of the leading Democrats, such as Vice President Kamala Harris. On the other hand, the government’s legal team is led by Julia Tarver Wood, a trial lawyer who joined the Justice Department a year ago, coming from Paul Weiss. Wood previously worked for big companies such as American International Group, Mastercard, and Amazon.com.
Tech giants face increasing antitrust scrutiny
Witnesses from Google, such as Trade Desk, Comcast, NewsCorp, and Gannet, will feature in the multi-week trial in a bid to counter the allegations of prosecutors that they were harmed by Google’s conduct. This case is among several that the Justice Department is using to challenge Big Tech monopolies.
This case is in line with recent efforts by U.S. antitrust enforcers to address perceived monopolistic practices in the tech sector. Recently, the Justice Department obtained an unfavorable decision against Google in another case related to its search engine monopoly. The Department is also involved in a lawsuit against Apple, and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is involved in cases against Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms.
Additionally, in a trial set for October 2026, the Department of Justice alleges Apple’s anti-competitive practices to maintain its dominance, including restrictions on app developers. In its defense, Apple argues that it offers low prices to consumers and doesn’t harm sellers in its marketplace.
Similarly, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 17 states are trying Amazon for operating an illegal monopoly in a trial set for October 2026. The FTC and states claim Amazon uses anticompetitive and unfair strategies to maintain its monopoly power.
