A recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema states that Google illegally monopolized the publisher ad servers and online ad exchanges markets. This ruling comes amidst ongoing investigations and previous legal actions regarding Google's practices, including a lawsuit by multiple states in 2020 alleging collusion with Facebook in ad auctions. Another ruling by Judge Amit Mehta determined Google was monopolizing the online search market. The current implications may lead to significant consequences for Google, including potential forced divestitures of its products like the Chrome browser.
Brinkema said Google is guilty of 'willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power,' adding that 'this exclusionary conduct substantially harmed Google's publisher customers, the competitive process, and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web.'
Even if a new entrant were positioned from a quality standpoint to bid for the default when an agreement expires, Mehta wrote, 'such a firm could compete only if it were prepared to pay partners upwards of billions of dollars in revenue share.'
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