Google is getting ready for the trial of a lifetime, again. Roughly one month after a U.S. judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly in online search, the company is going to court to defend its adtech business from claims that it stifles competition and forces both websites and advertisers to use its products.
Pre-trial motions and documents have already delivered big reveals. The judge said a policy of having sensitive chats automatically deleted after 24 hours could amount to destroying evidence. Google made US$15 billion from adtech in 2020, compared to $836 million at The Trade Desk, the next-closest competitor. A program paid hundreds of millions to incentivize agencies to buy ads on certain platforms, which is not technically illegal — unless the incentives are not in the best interest of clients, which prosecutors could attempt to prove.
It could change the face of the company. While the DOJ is reportedly considering breaking up Google’s search business, a more likely option is barring deals with other companies that make Google the default search engine on devices and browsers, which was the main issue in that case. But for adtech, Google’s empire has been built on a series of acquisitions over the last 16 years, making a breakup seem much more appropriate.