In our latest MadTech Podcast Special, we turn our attention to the US Department of Justice's case against Google, which seeks to split up its ad business. For this discussion, ExchangeWire's John Still is joined by Jason Kint of Digital Content Next, and ExchangeWire CSO Ciaran O'Kane to discuss what the case could mean for Google and the wider advertising industry.
In a lawsuit filed on January 24 2023, the DoJ alleged that Google abuses its power as one of the biggest providers and auctioneers of online advertising.
The DoJ case states that the Alphabet-owned firm has “engaged in a course of anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct” — including buying out competitors, forcing advertisers and publishers to use Google products, and stifling rival offerings — which has given the company a dominant market position.
The release states that the DOJ is seeking compensation for a “civil antitrust violation” (the first case to do so in around fifty years), and that the authority hopes that the suit will “restore competition” within the open web and “obtain equitable and monetary relief on behalf of the American public”.