Google has been dealt another major blow by a federal judge.
US District Judge Leonie Brinkema of Virginia ruled on Thursday that Google holds an illegal monopoly in advertising technology.
“For over a decade, Google has tied its publisher ad server and ad exchange together through contractual policies and technological integration, which enabled the company to establish and protect its monopoly power in these two markets,” Brinkema wrote.
The judge said that Google further cemented its monopoly power in the adtech business by imposing anticompetitive policies on its customers and “eliminating desirable product features.”
“In addition to depriving rivals of the ability to compete,” Brinkema wrote, “this exclusionary conduct substantially harmed Google’s publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web.”
There will be another hearing to determine remedies to Google’s violations of US competition laws. The court could force a breakup of Google’s adtech business.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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