Google monopolizes online advertising: the sentence of an American judge
A federal judge of Virginia has established that Google illegally built a « monopolistic power » in online advertising, violating antitrust laws. The risk of stew
New judicial blow against Google, this time accused by an American judge of being « a monopolist in online advertising ». After the accusations on privacy and the manipulation of the search results, the new sentence puts the financial engine in the sight that feeds most of the web. And now the serious risk is that of a stew.
The sentence
Judge Leonie Brinkema of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has established that the Mountain View group built and maintained an illegal monopoly in two crucial markets: that of Advertising servers for publishers and that of advertising exchange platforms (To Exchange). This domain – writes the judge – damaged « competition, publishers and consumers ».
The previous ones
AND The second time in less than a year that an American federal court recognizes Google an abuse of dominant position. This time, however, the stakes are even higher: we talk about forcing Alphabet to sell entire branches of your business, such as theTo the Google ad manager platform, the fulcrum of a system that is worth 31 billion dollars of revenues per year. The new sentence therefore affects the heart of Google control over online advertising, that is, on that invisible but very powerful infrastructure that regulates the purchase and sale of advertising spaces every time a web page is loaded.
The new verdict, which comes following a cause started in 2023, Added to other procedures in progress, it could lead to a profound review of the Google business model.
The offensive against Big Tech
But the proceedings against Google fit into a wider offensive of US regulators to limit the power of the great technological giantswhich deeply influence trade, information and online communication. The Department of Justice sued Apple, accusing it of making it difficult for consumers to get out of its closed ecosystem of devices and software. The Federal Trade Commission instead started causes against Amazonfor having crushed small businesses, e against goal, guilty – According to the accusation – of having eliminated the competition by purchasing Instagram and WhatsApp. The meta trial started just this week.
