Google considered selling off parts of its ad tech business to resolve antitrust concerns in Europe and the US, a lawyer for the company said Monday, but a Justice Department proposal to force the sale of its advertising exchange goes much further.
Jeannie Rhee, an outside lawyer for the Alphabet Inc. unit, said the Justice Department is seeking a “full technical separation and divestiture” of Google’s advertising exchange, AdX.
The agency and Google are set to face-off in a two-week hearing starting next week about whether the company must sell off parts of its business after a judge ruled it had illegally monopolised two advertising technology markets.
“Google considered a business divestiture,” Rhee said at a hearing in Virginia federal court. “That is not identical in any way shape or form” to the Justice Department’s proposal.
Google runs an ad-buying service for marketers and an ad-selling one for publishers, as well as a trading exchange where both sides complete transactions in lightning-fast auctions.
Rhee didn’t offer additional details on Google’s settlement offer. Before the US filed its case in 2023, Google offered a settlement that would split the part of its business that auctions and places ads on websites and apps into a separate company that would remain under the Alphabet umbrella, Bloomberg previously reported.
Judge Leonie Brinkema, who is overseeing the case, however, ruled that the Justice Department can present limited information about what Google decided internally about the technological possibility of a separation.
“The technical feasibility is the issue here,” Brinkema said.
Both US and European competition authorities have found Google illegally dominated the advertising technology markets by giving its own ad tools a competitive advantage. Earlier this month, the EU fined €3 billion ($3.5 billion) over its business practices – the second highest fine the Brussels-based regulator has imposed on the company.
The US, meanwhile, is seeking an order from Brinkema that Google immediately sell off its advertising exchange, AdX, as well as make its technology interact with rivals.
Earlier this month, Google avoided a major breakup after another US judge, Amit Mehta, largely sided with the company in a high-profile antitrust suit over the tech giant’s dominance of the online search market.
The ruling, which rejected the government’s proposal to force a sale of Google’s Chrome browser, marked a significant victory for the company and was a disappointment for Google’s competitors and third-party watchdogs who were hanging on to the prospect of accountability for Big Tech in a landmark case.
Add Now!
Jeannie Rhee, an outside lawyer for the Alphabet Inc. unit, said the Justice Department is seeking a “full technical separation and divestiture” of Google’s advertising exchange, AdX.
The agency and Google are set to face-off in a two-week hearing starting next week about whether the company must sell off parts of its business after a judge ruled it had illegally monopolised two advertising technology markets.
“Google considered a business divestiture,” Rhee said at a hearing in Virginia federal court. “That is not identical in any way shape or form” to the Justice Department’s proposal.
Google runs an ad-buying service for marketers and an ad-selling one for publishers, as well as a trading exchange where both sides complete transactions in lightning-fast auctions.
Rhee didn’t offer additional details on Google’s settlement offer. Before the US filed its case in 2023, Google offered a settlement that would split the part of its business that auctions and places ads on websites and apps into a separate company that would remain under the Alphabet umbrella, Bloomberg previously reported.
Judge Leonie Brinkema, who is overseeing the case, however, ruled that the Justice Department can present limited information about what Google decided internally about the technological possibility of a separation.
“The technical feasibility is the issue here,” Brinkema said.
Both US and European competition authorities have found Google illegally dominated the advertising technology markets by giving its own ad tools a competitive advantage. Earlier this month, the EU fined €3 billion ($3.5 billion) over its business practices – the second highest fine the Brussels-based regulator has imposed on the company.
The US, meanwhile, is seeking an order from Brinkema that Google immediately sell off its advertising exchange, AdX, as well as make its technology interact with rivals.
Earlier this month, Google avoided a major breakup after another US judge, Amit Mehta, largely sided with the company in a high-profile antitrust suit over the tech giant’s dominance of the online search market.
The ruling, which rejected the government’s proposal to force a sale of Google’s Chrome browser, marked a significant victory for the company and was a disappointment for Google’s competitors and third-party watchdogs who were hanging on to the prospect of accountability for Big Tech in a landmark case.
Add 
as a Reliable and Trusted News Source
as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!