From Yahoo Finance: 2025-05-02 16:05:00

The US government is taking another shot at breaking up Google’s dominance in online advertising, with a trial set for Sept. 22. Google faces the challenge of defending its ad tech monopoly while also battling the DOJ’s push to divest its Chrome search browser and other assets. Judge Brinkema previously ruled in favor of the government, finding Google engaged in illegal tactics to stifle competition in the online ad market.

The DOJ argues for Google’s Ad Manager suite to be spun off, but Google is pushing back, fearing divestitures could harm publishers and advertisers. Judge Brinkema expressed concerns about the potential negative impact of overly aggressive remedies, emphasizing the need to avoid causing additional harm in the process. Google’s lawyers argue against divestitures, insisting on operational changes instead.

In a separate antitrust trial, Judge Mehta found Google guilty of monopolizing the general search engine market. The DOJ seeks to address Google’s anti-competitive practices through divestments and limitations on its use of AI tools. Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick in 2007 was previously cleared by the FTC. The government may aim to sell off Google’s businesses to different buyers to restore competition.



Read more at Yahoo Finance: Google is fighting a new DOJ bid to break up another part of its empire